Apple iPhone 6 pre-orders hit 4m – many to wait until October for new models
It’s good news for Apple. Not such great news if you are hoping to get your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus any day soon. Apple said today it hit a record in first-day preorders for its new phones, reaching over four million pre-orders in the first 24 hours.
But the Californian based company also confirmed on Monday that demand for the new smartphones outpaced initial supplies. As a result many iPhone pre-orders aren’t scheduled to arrive with customers until October.
Additional supplies of the smartphones will be available to walk-in customers this Friday, starting at 8 am local time at Apple retail stores.
By comparison, Apple received over two million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 within 24 hours, and first weekend sales totalled more than 5 million.
Despite a lukewarm reception from the press and on social media when the handsets were unveiled last week, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have the potential to be the biggest sellers ever for Apple. The tech giant has reportedly asked manufacturing partners to produce between about 70 million to 80 million units of its larger screen iPhones by December 30, which is about 30 percent to 40 percent more iPhones than it ordered for its initial run of last year’s iPhone 5 devices.
The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus officially go on sale September 19 in 115 countries. In the UK, an unlocked iPhone 6 will start at £539, and the iPhone 6 Plus will start at £619.
The new iPhones are expected to be a vast improvement on the 4-inch screen found in last year’s iPhone 5S and 5C devices. In addition to being slimmer and lighter, both models also include a 64-bit A8 processor with improved graphics, an improved 8-megapixel rear camera, better battery life and an NFC chip that allows you to make credit card payments without using your credit card via Apple Pay.
