On Friday, Apple launched the iPhone 5S and 5C. The former is an upgrade over last year’s iPhone 5, and the latter is just an iPhone 5 in a new plastic casing. Launching two new iPhones at once has never happened before, but it seems to have worked out well for the Cupertino-based company.
Apple announced this morning that it sold 9 million iPhone 5S/5C models over the weekend. It didn’t bother to break down sales between the two, but it’s assumed that the iPhone 5S did better than the 5C. This assumption is made on Apple stating that iPhone 5S demand is outstripping supply.
“This is our best iPhone launch yet―more than nine million new iPhones sold―a new record for first weekend sales,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone.”
As you may have noticed, the new iPhone launch was preceded by the launch of iOS 7. The new mobile OS is available to everything from the iPhone 4 and up, and is already spreading faster than a wildfire on a windy day. Apple says that iOS 7 is now on 200 million iOS devices which makes it fastest software upgrade in history.
It should be noted that the market reacted negatively to the iPhone 5S/5C reveal. There was a feeling that the iPhone 5C was just too expensive, and that perhaps Apple could never recapture the magic it had under Steve Jobs. That skepticism is all in the past today, however, as Apple’s share price shot up by 27 points this morning.
[Image: Apple]