Shocking few, Apple’s newest iPhones broke records for first weekend sales, despite being available in fewer markets in 2014 than last year.  Apple’s new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus went on sale the weekend of September 19, going on to sell more than 10 million units.  While thousands of customers lined up at carrier stores and Apple’s own retail stores in cities across the United States, Europe and select other markets around the world, supplies were limited and customers were left waiting as in-store stocks of iPhones quickly sold out.

Apple sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus smartphones this past weekend, a million more than were sold during opening weekend in 2013 when the iPhone 5S and 5C went on sale, and double the number of iPhone 5 handsets sold in the first weekend in 2012.  Despite having more devices on hand than ever before, many stores reported selling out of their stock, with waits of more than a month for the iPhone 6 Plus reported for many markets.  With demand for the iPhone at all-time high levels it is clear that Apple will have a blockbuster quarter in the upcoming holiday shopping season, and is likely to report higher-than-usual sales in Q1 2015 once the iPhone begins to go on sale in China.

Strategy Analytics tracks Apple iPhone and other leading vendors by model in our  Handset Country Share Tracker service and by country and protocol in our Wireless Device Strategies service , which are available to clients. The reports are vital tools for tracking the share and health of leading vendors across the globe.