Apple Claims 4 Mln IPhone 6, IPhone 6 Plus Pre-orders In First 24 Hrs

(RTTNews) - Technology giant Apple, Inc. (AAPL) announced Monday that pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus breached the four million mark in the first 24 hours. The bulk of the deliveries will begin on Friday and will be made throughout September, but record demand for the new devices will push some deliveries into October.

"iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are better in every way, and we are thrilled customers love them as much as we do. Pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set a new record for Apple, and we can't wait to get our best iPhones yet into the hands of customers starting this Friday," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

In comparison, the iPhone 5 raked up two million pre-orders in the first 24 hours of launch in 2012. Last year, Apple sold a total of of nine million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c units over the first weekend of availability. The pre-order numbers were not reported last year, but analysts peg the pre-orders for iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at about 2.2 million.

Cupertino, California-based Apple unveiled the two new larger smartphones, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, at a media event hosted by Cook in San Francisco on September 9. Cook said at the launch that it is the "biggest advancements in iPhone history."

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sport a 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch Retina HD display, respectively, bigger than the 4 inch screens in the current iPhone 5S model. The new iPhones include iOS 8, the biggest release since the App Store.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be available in 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB versions, with the iPhone 6 retailing at $199 on two-year contract, and iPhone 6 Plus at $299, both the 16 GB model. The iPhones are available in gold, silver or space gray.

The new models are available from Friday in Apple retail stores, the Apple Online Store, and through AT&T, (T) Sprint (S), T-Mobile (TMUS), Verizon Wireless (VZ), additional carriers, and select Apple Authorized Resellers including Best Buy, Target and Walmart.

Meanwhile, for those who were unable to pre-order can now queue up on Friday at Apple retail stores from 8 a.m. to pickup in-store or receive an estimated delivery date after ordering online from Apple Online Store - www.apple.com.

The iPhones will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK beginning Friday. It will also be available in more than 20 additional countries on Friday, September 26.

Apple currently competes with the feature filled low-cost Chinese Android phones and Samsung's Galaxy series. Apple generates majority of its revenue from sales of iPhones. Apple has sold over 500 million units worldwide since its release in June 2007.

In Monday's regular trading session, AAPL is currently trading at $101.94, up $0.28 or 0.28% on a volume of 14.81 million shares.