Apple IPhone 6s, 6s Plus Sales Breach Record 13 Mln Mark In Three Days

(RTTNews) - Technology giant Apple, Inc. (AAPL) announced Monday it has set a new record for first weekend sales of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, having breached the 13 million mark within just three days of its sales launch on September 25. Sales came from the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK over the weekend.

The two new smartphone versions went on sale at the technology giant's retail stores at 8 a.m. local time from Friday, September 25.

Last year, the company had breached 10 million mark in sales of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus within three days of its launch on September 19, 2014. About the latest versions, Apple had confirmed early last week that it was on track to beat last year's record for first weekend sales.

Several analysts had somewhat correctly predicted that between 12 million and 13 million iPhone 6s' would be sold over the opening weekend. They also attributed part of the record sales to be the positive impact of China sales, which were not included last year, when the launch in the country was delayed.

"Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple's history. Customers' feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos, and we can't wait to bring iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to customers in even more countries on October 9," Apple CEO Tim Cook said.

Apple noted that the phones will be available in more than 40 additional countries beginning October 9 including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan. The new iPhones will be available in over 130 countries by the end of the year.

In 2013, Apple had sold a total of nine million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c units over the first weekend of availability. Meanwhile, more than 5 million iPhone 5s were sold in September 2012 over the first weekend of sales, compared to more than 1.7 million iPhone 4's sold on its first weekend.

Apple also went on to sell over 4 million iPhone 4S' in its first weekend in October 2011. Just over 1 million for the 3GS were sold in the opening weekend a year earlier to that.

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant unveiled on September 9 its iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus smartphones with a faster processor, new 3D touch capabilities and an improved camera, seeking to woo customers ahead of the holiday season and to assuage investors that its flagship device still has the mojo to sustain growth.

The phones, which look like their predecessors, are powered by the A9 chip, having a new feature called 3D Touch that lets users make commands and avail shortcuts and menus by pressing down on the screen. The new iPhones come with the new software, known as iOS 9, which has been available from September 16 as a free update.

The phones' main camera will have a resolution of 12 megapixels, and a selfie camera of 5 megapixels, with video recording in Ultra HD, or 4k.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available in four colors: gold, silver, space gray and the new rose gold metallic finishes. The prices will remain the same as previous iPhone versions. However, Apple lowered the prices of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus by $100.

The new iPhones were available at Apple retail stores for walk-in customers. Both models were also available from Friday at AT&T Inc. (T), Sprint Corp. (S), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), Verizon Wireless, additional carriers and select Apple authorized resellers.

Apple currently competes with the feature filled low-cost Chinese Android phones and Samsung's Galaxy series. Apple generates majority of its revenue from sales of iPhones.

According to comScore data, the Android operating system dominates in market share with 51.4 percent platform market share. However, the iPhone is the no. 1 device in the U.S., with a 44.2 percent market share, compared to 27.3 percent for Samsung and its Galaxy line of smartphones.

In Monday's regular trading session, AAPL is currently trading at $112.61, down $2.10 or 1.83% on a volume of 8.57 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $92.00 to $134.54.