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Just as surely as the leaves fall from the trees, selling a record number of new iPhones has become an autumn tradition for Apple.
Today the company said it that it had sold more than 13 million new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models over this past opening weekend (Foursquare called it). This is—you guessed it—a new record all over again, tearing past last fall's record of more than 10 million.
Apple must have a fill-in-the-blank template for such press releases by now. “Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said in a statement this go-around. “Customers’ feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos.”
(Here's Cook in Apple's post-iPhone launch weekend press release last September: "Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier.")
The latest iPhones got a boost from launching in China the same weekend as it launched in the US. China is the world’s largest smartphone market, representing 30 percent of global smartphone sales, and it's still where iPhone sales are growing fastest. Saturation in the Chinese smartphone market means fewer first-time buyers. But the demand for upgrades as China transitions to 4G technology makes the iPhone a coveted purchase.
Deviating from its usual practice, Apple also gave buyers an extra week to pre-order the new iPhone models ahead of their actual appearance in stores—two weeks instead of the usual one. The extra time presumably meant more sales, which made it easier for Apple to boast a bigger number.
As in the past, it's reasonable to believe this big number will get bigger. Apple said today that it would sell the 6S and 6S Plus in additional territories starting October 9. The new models, the company said, will be available in more than 130 countries by the end of 2015.
