If true the achievements are notable for several reasons, such as surpassing the iPhone 3G launch in 2008, which itself drew major numbers that led to crashing activation servers. Records would further come in spite of Apple taking orders at its own stores and website, and allowing Best Buy and Walmart as third-party vendors. The 3GS can also be seen as an incremental upgrade to the 3G, mainly adding better performance.AT&T has not published exact numbers; Apple however has announced worldwide sales of over 1 million units during the launch weekend, the greatest percentage of which are likely to have been sold in the US.
article source: http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/07/02/iphone.3gs.launch.record/