Monday, September 22, 2014

Apple iPhone 6 And iPhone 6 Plus Top Record 10 Million Units Sold In First Weekend Launch

A week removed from boasting a record 4 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus pre-order sales in 24 hours, Apple today announced that its newest handsets set the bar once again by notching over 10 million sales during its first weekend, making it the biggest iPhone launch yet. As expected, consumers came in record numbers to own the largest size iPhone models Apple has ever produced.

The iPhone 6 sports a 4.7-inch display with a 1334x750 resolution (326 ppi) while the iPhone 6 Plus goes even bigger with a 5.5-inch panel featuring a 1920x1080 resolution (401 ppi). Both IPS displays are classified as Retina-class panels, a marketing term Apple invented to describe displays with pixel densities high enough that you can't discern individual pixels when viewing from a "normal" distance.

iPhone 6 Angled

"Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier," said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. "We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin. While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible."

In addition to bigger displays, the new iPhones sport Apple's custom A8 SoC with a second generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture. They also feature improved cameras and Apple Pay, an NFC technology that allows iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners to pay using Touch ID in stores (that support it) and apps.

Apple Pay

Despite the record sales, Apple's been criticized by some for it's lack of innovation. Whereas the first few iPhone releases seemed to bring something revolutionary to the table, the last few have lacked any whiz-bang features. The bigger size displays are the primary selling point, though critics (and Samsung) have accused Apple of merely playing catch-up with the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines.

Is Apple being judged unfairly? Smartphone technology has matured to the point where true innovations are difficult to come by. Even without introducing game changers like Siri, new iPhone releases consistently attract record sales, and that's happened again with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

What's your opinion on this? Has Apple lost its innovative mojo, or do you think it's strategically doing just enough to keep its iPhone family on top (in terms of sales)?

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