AT&T: 200,000 iPhone 4S preorders in 12 hours

AT&T says that this morning's preorder session for Apple's iPhone 4S was its most successful iPhone launch yet, with the company grabbing more than 200,000 preorders in the first 12 hours the device was on sale.

"AT&T has seen extraordinary demand for iPhone 4S with more than 200,000 preorders in the first 12 hours alone, the most successful iPhone launch we've ever had," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

The news comes despite a bumpy start for the carrier, which had trouble processing customer eligibility on its sales site, as well as through Apple's online store, shortly after preorders began after midnight Pacific time.

Last year's launch of the iPhone 4, the last iPhone to be released exclusively on AT&T in the U.S., saw 600,000 preorders on its first day, setting a record for Apple and its carrier partners. This year's version became available for preorder ahead of a simultaneous launch in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the U.K. planned for next Friday.

AT&T's data represents the first sign of how well Apple's upcoming device is selling. The topic has been of particular interest given that some people expressed disappointment following this week's iPhone event that the device did not get a complete overhaul. Apple has not released its own data indicating total preorder volume from all carrier partners.