Apple sells record 10 million iPhones in debut weekend

Apple Inc. sold a record of more than 10 million iPhones in the weekend debut of two new models as consumers flocked to stores and Web shops to buy handsets featuring bigger screens.

Sales surpassed last year’s 9 million units when the iPhone 5s and 5c were introduced, the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement today.

“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,” CEO Tim Cook said in the statement.

Analysts’ estimates varied widely, with one projecting sales as high as 15 million units while others had cautioned that the results could fall short of last year’s shipments of the new iPhone 5s and 5c because of production shortages and the fact that the new devices did not go on sale in China .

Mr Cook is using the iPhone 6, which has a 4.7-inch display, and iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch screen to push into the turf of Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and other manufacturers of jumbo-sized smartphones. The rollout of the new iPhones, which account for more than half of Apple’s $171bn (£105m) in annual revenue, will be followed by the anticipated debut of new iPad models next month as the company revamps its product lineup ahead of the holiday shopping season.

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