Apple estimated to have sold over 55 million iPhones last quarter

Fortune has collated some serious information on unit sales estimates from 44 professional and amateur analysts, which makes it believe that Apple has just had its best quarter for the iPhone.

An average of 44 estimates provides a number of astounding proportions: 55.3 million iPhone sales in fiscal Q1. This is a 16% jump from the same quarter of last year. Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says that the range from highest to lower estimate is 9.7 million, where in the same quarter of last year, it was closer to 20 million.

We will hear more on this, with exact numbers, in just a week's time on January 27 when Apple reports its latest quarter financial results.