Apple’s new phones – iPhone 6S and 6S Plus – are now available at stores starting today, and dozens of people are queued in Sydney, along with a robot. These people will kick off the global sales cycle, which will be scrutinized to look for signs of the popularity of Apple’s new devices.
A robot outside Apple Store
A tele-presence robot named Lucy and made by Double Robotics was among the first to buy the new iPhone 6S in Sydney where it was raining, says a report from Reuters. This robot is operated by marketing executive Lucy Kelly, who mounted an iPad on top of the wheeled robot that said, “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.”
As always, Apple fans from various places such as San Francisco, London, Sydney have camped in front of Apple Stores for several days prior to the release of the product. Apple did a major overhaul last year, enlarging the screen sizes of its devices and adding mobile payments. Now Apple’s newest devices boast more modest improvements. The size of the phones is the same as last year, but they feature improved cameras and 3D Touch, a display technology that responds to pressure exerted by a user on their screens.
iPhone 6S sales to best all records
Analysts expect first weekend sales of 12 million to 13 million, which is higher than the 10 million iPhone 6 sales at launch last year. It must be noted that the launch of the iPhone 6 was delayed in China, which is the biggest smartphone market in the world. Considering the number of preorders for the devices, Apple expects first weekend sales to exceed that of the iPhone 6 released last year, according to a statement Apple made earlier this month.
“The stage is set for Apple to show year-over-year growth over the Herculean iPhone 6 sales,” Daniel Ives of FBR Capital Markets said.
Almost two-thirds of Apple’s revenue in the last quarter came from iPhones. The company released the first iPhone in 2007, and since then, it has become the best-selling device.