France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) reports that its French network operator Orange has sold more than 70,000 Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhones in the month following its late November launch. While the figure is “in-line” with the company’s goal of 50,000 to 100,000 handsets, it may be more difficult for the company to hit its 2008 target of up to 500,000—especially as nearly half of the phones (30,000) were sold within the first week of their debut and the holidays are traditionally a strong selling period for handsets. France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard had mused earlier that it might even be possible to sell one million in 2008. Meanwhile, Cellular News cites AFP that 48 percent of those sales were to new Orange customers, while just 3,500 unlocked handsets were sold.

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