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Apple said on Wednesday that, despite technical flaws they took more than 600,000 orders for the new iPhone 4 on Tuesday.

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The company apologized to customers who were frustrated by the computer hiccups, which affected the Web sites of Apple and AT&T and the ordering system in AT&T stores.  Because of the technical problem and computer hiccups the booking couldn’t be done in a well processed way.

“It was the largest number of preorders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions,” Apple said in a statement.

Investors appeared to be pleased with the sales figure, pushing Apple shares up about 3 percent on Wednesday, to $267.25.

Analysts said the number demonstrated that Apple remained a fierce contender in the smartphone industry, despite competition from hardware manufacturers like Motorolaand HTC and from Google’s Android phone software.

“It shows the Apple magic is still present,” said Gerry Purdy, a mobile analyst at MobileTrax. “It’s impressive.”

The iPhone 4 starts at $199 with a two-year contract.  AT&T loosened contract terms and said customers with contracts expiring in the next six months qualified for the new phone.

Although Apple is still accepting preorders, its Web site no longer promises delivery on the phone’s scheduled release date. Instead, customers who place an order now may receive their phones by July 14.

In a note to clients on Wednesday, Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, noted that it took Apple three days to sell a million of the In a note to clients on Wednesday, Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, noted that it took Apple three days to sell a million of the iPhone 3GS. Mr. Munster said his firm was raising his estimate for sales of all iPhone models in the current quarter to 9.5 million, from 8.5 million.