iPhone 6s Sales Are Off The Chart, Apple’s Online Store Buckles Under The Demand

Last week was a busy one for Apple. Not only did the company unveil its latest flagship devices — the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus — it also began taking preorders on Saturday. Taking preorders allowed the company to gauge the demand for the product and lets serious consumers reserve their iPhone 6s units ahead of the actual release date of September 25.

According to the Cupertino-based company, demand for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are robust. As a matter of fact, there was such a clamor for it that Apple’s online store buckled under the weight of initial demands and caused the preordering system to be unavailable during the first hour. But after that glitch was fixed, the company was swamped with an “exceptionally strong” online demand for the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus.

Trudy Muller, Apple’s spokesperson, noted that customer reception to Apple’s newest smart phones was extremely positive and the weekend’s pre-orders were noticeably “very strong around the world.”

“We are on pace to beat last year’s 10 million unit first-weekend record when the new iPhones go on sale September 25,” Muller added, referring to the numbers of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units sold on the first weekend they became available, including the more than 4 million preorders registered on the first day.

However, Apple didn’t share the actual preorder numbers for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The estimated preorder numbers were initially revealed via the Wall Street Journal, a fact that was not lost on analysts like Toni Sacconaghi of Sanford Bernstein & Co. Sacconaghi noted that Apple usually gives an update on its preorder numbers during the first 24 hours and the fact that it hasn’t raised questions on whether the numbers might actually be lower than last year’s 4 million.

But the circumstances surrounding last year’s launch is far different from this year. For one, Apple launched the iPhone 6 preorders on a Friday, whereas iPhone 6s preorders started on a Saturday. The one day difference can have a serious effect on its sales pull.

There’s also the fact that presales from China are included in the numbers for the iPhone 6s while it was left out of the preorder sales for the iPhone 6. This will potentially give a big boost to the iPhone 6s’ numbers. An early spot-check of Apple’s online stores show that the company is a big hit among Chinese consumers, millions of whom have reportedly ordered the rose-gold iPhone 6s Plus. All pre-orders were reportedly sold out in the country in just 12 hours.

While the sales from China are encouraging, it admittedly will make it challenging to make an exact year-to-year sales comparison of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s.

Apple’s American website states that shipping of pre-ordered iPhone 6s devices will start on September 25. Unfortunately, there will be a waiting period of two to three weeks in some areas. However, the huge demand for the iPhone 6s Plus has caused a shipping delay of three to four weeks.

The iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus will be available for sale in 12 different countries on September 25.

[Image via YouTube]