When Apple sold 9 million iPhones in the opening weekend of iPhone 5S and 5C last year, it was assumed that would be the zenith; the cheaper 5C offered more opportunity, and launching in China for the first time offered untold opportunity. And then this year Apple sold 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units, with no China (yet) and a lot more cash at stake.
The report comes after Apple's initial announcement that it had moved 4 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets the very first day. As it turns out, it almost kept that pace up through out the weekend. And that was with supply constraints. According to CEO Tim Cook:
"Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn't be happier," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin. 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."
What Apple didn't reveal is the breakdown of unit sales between the 6 and 6 Plus, although it's not clear how helpful it would have been if they had; the 6 Plus hit shipping delays far faster in a way that hinted more at severe supply constraints than overwhelming demand.
Still, 10 million is hugely impressive given that the phones are pricier and lack the scale of launch countries that the iPhone 5 and 5S did. We'll see how the numbers fully shake out once Apple catches up to the demand. In the meantime, a record is a record, and it seems as though the company hasn't lost any of its shine. [Apple]