New York: Apple Inc said it sold more than 10 million iPhones in the first weekend (three days) after its new models went on sale on Friday, underscoring strong demand for phones with larger displays.
Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company could have sold even more iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models if supplies had been available. Analysts had estimated first-weekend sales of up to 10 million iPhones, after Apple booked record pre-orders of 4 million on September 12, the day pre-orders opened.
Apple’s shares were little changed at $100.98 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq yesterday.
The company’s first-quarter revenue is likely to be 9 percent higher than Wall Street estimates, based on reported sales and projected demand for the new iPhones, Piper Jaffray & Co analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note.
Munster said he expected earnings per share to be 12 percent higher than estimates.
“Despite the supply chain constraints around the iPhone 6 Plus and tightness around certain models of the iPhone 6, we believe (Monday’s) strong print demonstrates that Apple executed extremely well in the face of severe supply constraints,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White wrote in a note.
First-day pre-orders for the new phones, which went on sale in 10 countries, far surpassed the 2 million recorded for the iPhone 5 model two years ago.
“While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible,” Cook said in a statement.
Apple sold 9 million iPhone 5S and 5C models last year in 11 countries, including China, in the first weekend they were available.
Sales of the latest models in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, have been delayed by regulatory issues. Lured by the prospect of profit from smuggling the new iPhones into China, opportunists joined the scores of fans outside Apple stores to buy the devices. Reuters
