Hold the phone:
Die-hard fans stake out Apple stores for the new iPhone 6s
Keegan Cooper has been counting the days, and waited in line for more than 24 hours, to get his hands on a new iPhone 6S Plus, which went on sale in Apple Stores Friday morning.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” said 18-year-old Cooper, who arrived at the Apple Store on Stockton Street in San Francisco around 7 a.m. Thursday. He was eighth in line.
Cooper was part of a pack of die-hard Apple fans outside stores early Friday, angling to buy the iPhone 6S or the larger 6S Plus, which start at $199 and $299 with a two-year contract. Apple began accepting advance orders for the phones this month, and already sales look like they will outpace last year’s first weekend sales for
the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices.
“Customer response to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus has been incredibly positive,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said in a press release.
The new phones were available in 12 countries Friday, compared with 10 last year. China and New Zealand were added this year, which will dramatically boost sales, analysts said.
“We believe that China alone could offer a significant bump ... given that we believe it represents around 30 percent of iPhone sales,” wrote Gene Munster, senior research analyst with Piper Jaffray, in a note to investors.
Munster said 12 to 13 million iPhone 6S and 6S Plus devices will sell on the first weekend, up from 10 million last year.
New features include a 12-megapixel camera that can take “live photos,” which record the action before and after the photo is taken, along with the still image. The phones also include 3D Touch, which takes into account the amount of pressure users apply to their screens, triggering different actions.
Many people in line were buying phones for themselves, but Huan Nguyen, who was first in line at the Stockton Street store, planned to get an iPhone 6S Plus in rose gold for his mother as a belated birthday gift.
“She really loves the pink color,” said Nguyen, who owns a Samsung smartphone.
Klaus Bandisch plans to trade his iPhone 6 Plus for a space gray iPhone 6S Plus, which starts at around $650. The app developer was the first to line up at the Chestnut Street Apple Store at around 9 a.m. on Thursday. He planned to stay up all night and minimize his bathroom breaks.
“You want something bad enough, you got to do it,” said Bandisch, who is 60.