Rogers says thousands of new iPhones sold in Canada

TORONTO (Reuters) - Rogers Communications Inc RCIb.TO said on Monday the launch shipment of Apple Inc's AAPL.O iPhone 3G had sold out in most cities in Canada and marked the best weekend of handset sales in Rogers' history.

Rogers, which owns Canada’s biggest wireless carrier, said in a statement that “tens of thousands” of the multimedia handsets were sold, but did not provide exact figures.

The company, which is the only carrier in Canada to offer the popular smartphone, started selling the iPhone on Friday. The handset combines a phone, an iPod music player and a Web browser in one device.

“With iPhone 3G, we’ve had the best weekend sales of a handset in Rogers Wireless history,” said John Boynton, the carrier’s chief marketing officer.

The company said tens of thousands more iPhones have arrived in Canada and will be in stores across the country by Tuesday.

Rogers initially drew customer complaints when it announced the prices of service plans for the iPhone, which many customers found to be overly expensive, especially when compared with those in the United States.

Then, shortly before the iPhone went on sale, Rogers announced a cheaper, promotional data plan.

Rogers shares were down 31 Canadian cents at C$36.90 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday.

($1=$1.01 Canadian)