IPhone 6s sales break record at 13 million
Apple said Monday it has beaten last year’s record for most iPhones sold in its first weekend, with more than 13 million 6s and 6s Plus devices snapped up by consumers.
The phones were sold in 12 countries starting last Friday. This year, China was one of the new countries added to the first-weekend release, giving the phones a significant sales boost, analysts said. Last year, the company sold 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices in ten countries its first weekend.
“Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first-weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a press release.
The 6s devices have several new features, including 3D Touch — a pressure sensor on the phone screen that enables different actions as a user presses harder — along with a 12-megapixel camera and Live Photos, which records action a few seconds before and after a photo is taken, creating gif-like images. The 6s and 6s Plus start at $199 and $299 with a two-year contract.
Some Apple fans lined up more than 24 hours before Friday’s release to get first pick of the smartphones. One customer said he planned to minimize his bathroom breaks and pull an all-nighter to hold his place in line.
Apple plans to expand sales of its 6s devices to 40 more countries on Oct. 9. By the end of the year, the phone will be sold in more than 130 countries.
Not all analysts were pumped up by Apple’s news. Abhey Lamba, an analyst with Mizuho
Securities USA Inc., did not view the sales results as “overwhelmingly positive” because they included two additional countries, meaning they were not a “like for like comparison” with last year.
“We continue to view Apple as a strong franchise but reiterate that it could be tough for the company to post meaningful shipment growth in this cycle,” Lamba wrote in a note to investors.