A couple of minor corrections to your numbers, Star. Apple sold 1.23 million Apple Watches in the UNITED STATES in the first hour. . . but they were also selling in 12 other countries including China, Japan, Canada, and some European countries whose numbers are not included in that 1.23 million. An additional 1.3 million is estimated to have also been sold in that first hour in those countries. Apple continued selling pre-orders for the entire weekend and on into the week. No one except Apple knows how many Apple Watches were ordered during the week and are continuing to be sold. . . but in that first hour alone, the 2.5 million Apple Watches that were apparently ear-marked for delivery on April 24th were sold-out in the first TEN MINUTES! The demand for the Apple Watch has been phenomenal!
There is no evidence of Apple holding anything back. . . and there never has been any evidence of such holding back on product releases to "generate demand." It has always been obvious that there is a tidal wave of demand for Apple products before any Apple product release. There has never been any need to gin up demand.
Wow! Those numbers are more amazing than I originally thought. Thanks for clarifying!