The New York Times —\u00a0Early sales of Apple\u2019s new iPhones have lived up to high expectations.<\/p>\n
The company on Monday said it sold more than 10 million of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models in the first three days they were available in stores. That is higher than the nine million new iPhones it sold last year in their first weekend on sale.<\/p>\n
The phones\u2019 larger screens \u2014 4.7 diagonal inches for the 6 and 5.5 for the 6 Plus \u2014 are a considerable jump from the 4-inch screens of earlier iPhones.<\/p>\n
The iPhone sales were on the upper end of financial analysts\u2019 expectations, which ranged from 6.5 million to the \u201clow teens\u201d of millions of sales.<\/p>\n
The iPhone 6 Plus is very large and has the same size display as the LG G3, at 5.5 inches, but is significantly taller.<\/p>\n
Timothy D. Cook, Apple\u2019s chief executive, announced the Apple Watch during an event at the Flint Center on Tuesday in Cupertino, Calif.<\/p>\n
The strong sales mirror growing consumer demand for smartphones with bigger screens. IDC, a research firm, estimated that at least 20 percent of all smartphones shipped last year in China, the largest smartphone market in the world, were five inches or larger. It also predicted that manufacturers this year would ship more \u201cphablets,\u201d or smartphones with screens measuring at least 5.5 diagonal inches, than laptops.<\/p>\n
An Apple customer leaving a store in Manhattan on Friday with a new iPhone 6 Plus in hand. Credit Michael Appleton for The New York Times<\/p>\n
Some analysts even estimated that the larger iPhone 6 Plus was more popular with consumers over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe iPhone 6 Plus demand is very strong. They\u2019re basically sold out everywhere we checked,\u201d said Maynard Um, a senior research analyst for Wells Fargo. \u201cBut the iPhone 6 didn\u2019t look to be fully sold out. That\u2019s hard to tell if it\u2019s because Apple has a lot of supply out there, or it\u2019s because there\u2019s less demand for it compared to the iPhone 6 Plus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s investors \u2014 much like Hollywood producers tracking the first few days of ticket sales for a blockbuster movie \u2014 closely watch first-weekend sales for the iPhone because they are a reflection of consumer demand. The iPhone is still Apple\u2019s biggest cash cow, accounting for about 70 percent of its profit. So early sales can help predict quarterly or even annual results for the company, based in Cupertino, Calif.<\/p>\n
But some analysts, like Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, wondered whether first-weekend sales were still a reliable measure for consumer demand. The iPhone is already immensely popular in many countries, he noted before the announcement, so early sales may be more of a sign of how many iPhones can initially be produced by Apple and its manufacturing partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first weekend iPhone sales number continues to be more about how much Apple can supply than what the demand is in the market,\u201d said Walter Piecyk, managing director at BTIG Research, an industry firm.<\/p>\n
Timothy D. Cook, Apple\u2019s chief executive, said as much on Monday.<\/p>\n
Apple \u201ccould have sold many more iPhones with greater supply, and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The latest iPhones also missed out on a big market: China. Apple has delayed the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus there, apparently because the devices have not yet received approval from Chinese regulators.<\/p>\n
Despite missing out on hundreds of millions of potential Chinese customers, Apple impressed analysts with its weekend performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven without China, Apple was able to move $6.5 billion of product in three days which would be impressive for any industry,\u201d Mr. Piecyk said.<\/p>\n
The introduction of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on Friday was the second time Apple released two new iPhones at the same time. Last year, Apple introduced the iPhone 5S along with the iPhone 5C, a colorful plastic model sold at a lower price.<\/p>\n
Apple is treating the iPhone 5C differently than past iPhones. Traditionally, Apple has upgraded each iPhone\u00a0once a year, with improvements like faster chips and better cameras. But this month, instead of announcing an upgrade for the iPhone 5C, Apple said it would continue to sell the exact same iPhone, but for a lower cost: free with a contract.<\/p>\n
Analysts say that it appears Apple\u2019s strategy all along for the iPhone 5C was to sell an older, plastic iPhone over a longer time period to allow the costs of production and components to drop. That lets Apple decrease the price of the plastic iPhone and increase market share in less affluent markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The New York Times —\u00a0Early sales of Apple\u2019s new iPhones have lived up to high expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[191,16],"tags":[552],"yoast_head":"\n