Unlike last year, Apple has not actually stated how many devices were ordered in the first 24 hours of availability. Instead, CNBC reports the company wrote in a statement today that customer response has been “extremely positive” and demand “very strong around the world.”
With Apple not forthcoming on exact sales figures, it has been left to analysts to come up with estimates instead. CNBC writes that Amit Daryanani, equity analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said 12 million units over the weekend would be a “reasonable expectation” based on the waiting times indicated on Apple’s website. Last year, 4 million orders were made in the first weekend.
UberGizmo notes that the extra demand is likely to have been led by China. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were not immediately made available in the country despite it being a key market for Apple. This year it is on the launch list and Chinese consumers have been eagerly snapping up handsets since pre-orders opened on Friday.
An iPhone inventory blog now shows wait times in China of two to three weeks for the iPhone 6S or three to four weeks for the 6S Plus. The blog works by using screenshots of the waiting times displayed on Apple’s websites to calculate estimated back orders of the devices.
The 6S Plus seems to be the most heavily demanded phone worldwide and is now showing wait times of three to four weeks in every launch country. The ordinary 6S can be still be obtained on launch day in most regions.
The key new feature of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus is the introduction of Apple’s new 3D Touch pressure-sensing display technology. It allows the screen to differentiate between taps, light presses and heavy presses, allowing developers to program separate actions accordingly. The introduction of a new processor, Apple’s A9 chip, also makes the handsets significantly faster than their predecessors, giving a performance boost of up to 30 percent.
Elsewhere, camera quality has been improved and image size upped to 12-megapixels. Siri is now a more central aspect of the iPhone and can be activated by voice at any time by saying “Hey Siri.” iPhone 6S pricing on a two-year contract starts at $199, or $299 for the 6S Plus.
