When Steve Jobs unveiled iPhone at WWDC in January this year, he said that Apple hopes to sell 10 million units until 2008 and achieve 1% market share.

But, in the light of the recent study released today by M:Metric, his expectations might be exceeded by reality.

According to April Benchmark Survey unveiled by M:Metrics 56 percent of British and 64 percent of American mobile phone users were aware of the iPhone. In the U.S., where the device will launch first, 14 percent of those who had heard about the iPhone reported they would be highly interested in buying one.

"This data confirms that the iPhone has sparked the imaginations of consumers and is not merely a topic of conversation among insiders and technology enthusiasts," observed Mark Donovan, senior vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. "19 million Americans reported strong interest in purchasing an iPhone – an impressive figure, when you consider that the installed base of most high-end devices rarely approaches one million and respondents were informed of the price point as well as of the AT&T exclusive."

M:Metrics has also a good news for AT&T that a five-year exclusive on the device in the United States: 67 percent of those who were most inclined to purchase an iPhone are subscribers on other carrier networks.

Apple will launch iPhone in the US on June 29. The 4 gigabyte version will cost 499 dollars. The 8 gigabyte version will cost 599 dollars. The device features a touch-screen input technology called Multi- Touch, controlled by sliding a finger across its touch-sensitive, 9- centimetre (3.5-inch), 160-pixel-per-inch display. The display automatically switches between landscape or portrait mode thanks to a built-in sensor.

The 11.6-millimetre thick device also sports a 2-megapixel camera, headset jack, 3.5-millimetre audio jack, SIM tray, a sleep-wake switch, speaker, microphone and an iPod dock connector. The quad-band GSM plus EDGE phone also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities. Future versions will carry 3G capabilities. Apple said that iPhone will be launched in Europe, later this year.