I think the math is more like this.
Librie sales, as best as anyone can estimate: 5,000 units
My estimate is they got green lighted to run off 20% of that as a first run "and we'll see from there". They likely had to buy 10,000 panels from PVI to get the price point needed to make the $349 retail price (with $50 towards ebooks.)
I'd estimate the split as:
Online Store: 250 units
Borders: 250 units
Sony Retail: 300 units
Reserve: 200 units
My order was placed 6:36 PM PDT and was initially scheduled to ship 9/28. On 9/27 it was bumped to 9/29. My guess is that on 9/27 a meeting was held and things got reallocated.
Online Store: 500 units
Borders: 250 units
Sony Retail: 200 units
Reserve (DOA stock): 50 units
So that's my guess, 500 units sold the first 24 hours, with another 450 being thinly spread through retail stores for those that can find them and get them.
Supporting evidence: if they had 10,000 units on hand? The folks from MR that visited last week would have been offered units during their visit instead of having to buy them this week via the online store (ditto for Engadget.)
