Apple may have taken it on the chin over the weekend thanks to iPhone 3G activation issues, but the company is likely smiling all the way to the bank because this may have been the largest consumer electronics product launch in history. If the numbers the Yankee Group cooked up are accurate, Apple posted about US$433 million in first weekend iPhone 3G sales.

The previous record holder for the largest first weekend launch also went to Apple for the original iPhone launch at about $150 million in inflation-adjusted dollars. In comparison, Microsoft’s XBox 360 brought in $128 million in its first weekend, and Windows 95 earned $122 million in its first four days of availability.

The Yankee Group based its figures on the assumption that of the 1 million iPhone 3G handhelds Apple sold, two thirds were the 8GB model and one third were the 16GB model.

The App Store, Apple’s online store for third-party iPhone and iPod touch applications, also did well in its first weekend. Apple reported that over 10 million apps were downloaded, but the Yankee Group expects that most of those were free instead of pay apps. The research group’s estimates peg Apple’s take from apps that were sold at $1 million.

Even if the Yankee Group’s numbers are off, it appears that Apple still made a strong showing with the iPhone 3G and App Store over the weekend even with overloaded activation servers.

"But making history is never easy or smooth. And Apple’s competitors should be happy about the problems they had," said the Yankee Group’s Carl Howe. "Imagine how many iPhone 3Gs Apple would have sold if the launch had been problem-free."