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The new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus hit stores yesterday, with dozens of people – and a robot – queueing in Sydney to kick off a global sales cycle that will be scrutinised for signs of how much juice Apple Inc’s marquee product has left.
Analysts expect 12 million to 13 million phones to fly off the shelves in the first weekend, up from more than 10 million last year when the hugely successful iPhone 6’s launch was delayed in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market.
Among the first to pick up the new iPhone 6S in a cold, rainy Sydney was a telepresence robot named Lucy, operated by marketing executive Lucy Kelly.
“I obviously have my work and other things to attend to and can’t spend two days lining up so my boss at work suggested I take one of the robots down and use it to stand in my place,” she said via an iPad mounted on top of the wheeled robot.
“I love new gadgets. The new camera is meant to be amazing.”
Fans from San Francisco to London to Sydney have camped out for days prior to the release, and Apple said earlier this month that pre-orders suggested sales were on pace to beat last year’s first-weekend performance.
Apple’s flagship iPhones generated nearly two-thirds of the US giant’s revenue in the latest quarter. First released in 2007, the iPhone is Apple’s best-selling device to date.
“The stage is set for Apple to show year-over-year growth over the Herculean iPhone 6 sales,” FBR Capital Markets senior analyst Daniel Ives said.
After a dramatic redesign last year in which Apple enlarged the iPhone’s screen and added mobile payments, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus boast more modest improvements.
The new iPhone 6S comes with an improved camera in both the front and rear of the phone, as well as a pressure sensitive screen – where users can press more firmly in order to open new shortcuts – a feature Apple calls 3D Touch.
“Today is like Christmas for pocket film makers all around the world because the iPhone 6S Plus is like the newest, greatest toy we have to play with,” said Jason van Genderen, who makes movies on smart phones in Sydney.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s astounding. The camera craft has now come up to storytelling craft.”
The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which start at $199 and $299 with a two-year contract with a mobile service provider, went on sale yesterday in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States
Apple devotees also queued outside the firm’s flagship store on London’s Regent Street to be among the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus before shops opened yesterday.
Apple claims demands for the newest versions of its smartphones could surpass the record-breaking sales of iPhone 6 last year.
It also comes with a rose gold finish on the rear casing for the first time.
Apple executives have said just a fraction of their customers have upgraded to the iPhone 6, suggesting they have plenty of room to grow this year.
Lackluster offerings this year from rival smartphone manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co Ltd also will help Apple stand out in the marketplace, analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy wrote in an email.
“Over the long haul, the 6S will eclipse the 6 as Apple is even more competitive versus Samsung in emerging regions and is gaining share in traditional regions,” Moorhead wrote in an email.
“Samsung didn’t bring a whole lot of compelling features to consumers with their new lines of phones.”
The technology giant said that pre-orders were “on pace” to match those of the iPhone 6 launch in September last year, when that device went on to sell more than 10 million units in the first three days, and help Apple post world-record profits.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of worldwide marketing, said: “Customer response to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus has been incredibly positive, we can’t wait to get our most advanced iPhones ever into customers’ hands starting this Friday.
“iOS 9 is also off to an amazing start, on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other software release in Apple’s history.” – news.sky.com/ reuters.com
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