The iPhone 5 officially went on sale in China only a few short days ago, and tonight Apple announced that sales topped 2 million during the first three days of availability.
When Apple originally started selling the iPhone 5 back in September, the handset sold 5 million units during launch weekend in 9 nine countries, including the United States. Just like the domestic launch, this initial turnout in China shows incredible demand for the iPhone 5.
“Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products.”
While riots and insanely long lines are common for Apple product launches in China, the iPhone 5 was received rather calmly. This was mainly due to Apple’s new reservation system for product launches in China. Customers must first order a device online the day before. This helps prevents scalpers and hordes of people filling the streets.
Apple has yet to partner with China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world. When a partnership between the two companies is reached, the iPhone will be available to an additional 700 million+ Chinese customers.
By the end of this month, the iPhone 5 will be available in more than 100 countries around the world, making it the fastest iPhone rollout ever.
Source: Apple
