Apple Inc's new smartphone iPhone 5 has broken the record set by its predecessor iPhone 4S and is expected to break more records when it hits the stands on Friday.
iPhone 4S topped one million on the launch date in 2011 and sold over four million in the three-day opening weekend, which was a record for Apple. However, the latest iPhone 5 has broken the first record by topping two million pre-orders in the first 24 hours.
The new iPhone may soon break another record set by iPhone 4S if we are to go by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster's prediction. Munster said in a research note that 6-10 million units of iPhone 5 are expected to be sold in the opening weekend.
Munster believe that iPhone 5 will do much better than iPhone 4S, as the consumer sentiment on the former is higher. He opined that the feel and weight of the new smartphone will attract more customers.
Apple announced on Monday that iPhone 5 pre-orders topped two million in the first 24 hours, which is more than double the record held by iPhone 4S.
"iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. "iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we've ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do."
Apple said on Monday that demand for iPhone 5 has exceeded the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered to customers on Sept 21, many are scheduled to be delivered in October.
Apple unveiled its much-anticipated new iPhone at the Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco on Wednesday. It is the thinnest and lightest ever iPhone offered by the company.
The new iPhone will be available at 356 Apple retail stores in the US at 8 a.m. local time onwards on Friday. Every customer who buys an iPhone 5 at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service that will help in customizing the device by setting up email, displaying new apps from the App Store and more. By doing so customer's will be up and running with their new iPhone even before they leave the store.
Apple has announced that iPhone 5 will also be available in countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK on Sept 21. It will be launched in 22 more countries on Sept 28.
iPhone 5 will come in either white and silver or black and slate, and will be priced in the US at $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model.
The new iPhone comes with iOS 6 with over 200 new features, a 4-inch Retina display, an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance, ultrafast wireless technology and an improved battery life.
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