Apple Inc. booked orders for more than two million iPhone 5 models in the first 24 hours, reflecting a higher-than-expected demand for the consumer device giant's new smartphone and setting it up for a strong holiday quarter.
Apple shares rose in extended after-market trading to touch $700 per share for the first time.
They have gained nearly 22 per cent in the past three-and-a-half months in the build-up to the launch of the iPhone 5.
Apple said on Monday that pre-orders outstripped initial supply but it would deliver most phones as planned by Friday, the first day of delivery. Many would not be available until October, however.
In Canada, where stores are already expecting lineups for the new iPhone, sales start at 8 a.m. this Friday. Canadian buyers can acquire six-gigabyte data plans among all the major carriers, which are selling the iPhone 5 starting at $179.95 for the 16 GB model with a threeyear term.
It is not unusual for Apple products to sell out the first day, but this time around Apple has doubled its first-day sales record.
Last October, the company booked one million orders for the iPhone 4S, in the first 24 hours. That had beaten Apple's previous one-day record of 600,000 sales for the iPhone 4.
The strong preorders could mean a huge holiday quarter for Apple as the iPhone - its marquee device - accounts for half of Apple's revenue.
Apple will make initial deliveries of the iPhone 5 by Sept. 21 in the U.S., Canada and most of the major European markets, such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The phone then goes on sale on Sept. 28 in 22 other countries.
Given the demand for the device so far and Apple's aggressive rollout of it internationally, some analysts raised their sales and earnings estimates.
Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes expects Apple to sell 45.21 million iPhones in the December quarter.
Canaccord Genuity expects Apple to ship nine million to 10 million iPhone 5s from Friday to Sept. 29.
