Is Apple winning back customers with larger screens?

Apple Inc. sold a record of more than 10m iPhones the first weekend two new versions hit stores, helping Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook in a push to narrow Samsung Electronics Co.’s lead in bigger-screen smartphones.

Sales surpassed last year’s 9m units when the iPhone 5s and 5c were introduced, the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement today. The devices went on sale on 19 Sept in the same countries as the 2013 rollout, with the exception of mainland China, which had sparked concern this year’s debut might fall short of the record.

“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 the statement.

Cook is using the iPhone 6, which has a 4.7-inch (11.9- centimeter) display, and iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch screen to push into the turf of Samsung, HTC Corp. and other manufacturers of jumbo smartphones. The rollout of the new iPhones, which account for more than half of Apple’s $171 billion 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.

“The biggest benefit is the bigger screen,” said Chris Caso, an analyst at Susquehanna International Group in New York, who has a positive rating on Apple’s stock. “There was a lot of pent-up demand for that. By having a larger screen size it’s giving people a reason to upgrade their phone.”

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