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Well, Apple’s iPhone 5c and 5s sales figures have blazed a trail, and this time, the numbers in the first weekend stand at a whopping nine million compared to the previous record when the Apple iPhone 5 sold about five million handsets in the first week. This is a surge of a mind blowing 80 per cent.

The numbers for the iPhone 5c and 5s include that of China, which has been considered in Apple’s iPhone first phase launch for the first time ever.

But the iPhone 5s and 5c have already hit India’s grey market and come for a whopping Rs 65,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively.

In the first phase, the iPhone 5s as well as the iPhone 5c will roll out in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK besides the US.

The demand has come as a surprise to Apple and many online orders will only see deliveries delayed to the forthcoming weeks.

Another reason for the high sales is that, this time, the new iPhones are offered in two handsets – the 5c and 5s – which give buyers the impression that there is much more on offer now. The 5c is the cheaper option buyers have but the top-end 5s model seems to have become more popular in the American market.

Like the iPhone 5, the 5c and 5s have a touchscreen measuring 10 cm diagonally, with a resolution of 326 pixels per inch. This is more enhanced than the pixel density of Apple's iPads, though they fall short when compared to the Samsung Galaxy S IV.

The iPhone 5c sports a brand new hard-coated polycarbonate casing but comes with almost the same internals as the iPhone 5, including the ditto A6 chip, 4 inch Retina display with a resolution of 640x1136 pixels and an 8 MP rear camera. 

However, the new handset comes with a bigger battery, an enhanced front-facing camera and improved 4G/ LTE support.

The iPhone 5s also comes with a number of refurbishments, including a new A7 chip that supports 64 bit computing, a swifter graphics processor, M7 co-processor for tracking data from the different sensors of the handset, fingerprint scanner on the Home button along with an upgraded camera that offers support for a burst mode and slow motion video capture, in addition to a dual LED flash.

The iPhone 5 and 5s have the same size and weight, while the 5c is a tad bigger and heavier.

And, here’s a judicious move on part of Apple so far as pricing goes: The iPhone 5s carries the same price as the iPhone 5 (when it was rolled out a year ago) but the 5c is $100 cheaper.

Talk time has got a fillip on the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, as well as Internet use over LTE connections. 

There is no change with regard to video playback and Internet use over Wi-Fi.

Like all older versions of the phone, batteries on the two new phones can be replaced only by the official Apple servicemen. This remains a hindrance, especially when the launch takes place in developing markets like India.

Meanwhile, the 5c comes in five colours and uses plastic instead of aluminum and glass as casing.

“This is our best iPhone roll out yet and a new record for first weekend sales,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

“Demand for the new iPhones is mind blowing, and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to get order for new iPhones. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to building enough new iPhones for everyone,” the CEO averred.

So, will Apple iPhone 5c and 5s also blaze a trail in the Indian market as there are some grey areas like battery replacement by Apple servicemen only and Samsung’s litany of launches (with competitive prices) which the American giant has to contend with?

Apple seems to be getting better by the day (in terms of technology as well as sales) with every iPhone launch and the latest iPhone 5 has scaled unprecedented heights after the order book showed a whopping two million bookings just within 24 hours of its launch, and this way, sales could touch 10 million in this month itself.

The previous iPhone, the iPhone 4S, had sold just half that figure during pre-bookings.

Apple iPhone 5 is rich in features: It will come in two colour choices: Black and Slate and White and Silver and offer models with three different capacities – 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB.

Price of the 16 GB will be $199, while the 32 GB will cost $299 and the 64 GB $399. The new iPhone has the following dimensions: height: 12.38 cm, width: 5.86 cm and it weighs 110 grams.

iPhone 5 will not support the micro SIM card, and so, users will need to buy a Nano card to use it.

The new iPhone will be offered in two GSM models and one CDMA version. It will also have bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology.

The new iPhone will come with a four-inch screen and retina display. It also supports multiple languages and characters. It will have a finger resistant coating in the front.

The gadget comes with a powerful 8 megapixel isight camera. HD videos are also possible. The iPhone 5 has auto focus and LED flash and images can be captured from video also.

In battery life, the iPhone 5 has talk time of up to 8 hours on 3G and standby time of 225 hours. Internet use time is up to 8 hours on 3G, 8 hours on 4G LTE and 10 hours on Wi-Fi. Video playback is up to 10 hours and audio playback 40 hours.

Philip Schiller, senior vice-president of Apple (worldwide marketing), dubbed the response as “phenomenal” during launch.

According to website CNET, potential buyers were standing in long queues with coats and sleeping bags outside a retail outlet in New York. There were similar queues in London’s Regent Street as well.

Although Apple has come up with the best product in cellphones, it is being challenged by Korean electronics giant Samsung, which often offers bigger screens on its handsets and prices them judiciously. In fact, Galaxy has posed a challenge for the iPhone with the latest flagship of Samsung, the Galaxy S III, achieving a feat by overtaking iPhone 4S sales.

But any analysis of the iPhone 5 is futile in the wake of the overwhelming response. Apple is slated to make 70-80 per cent profit on every iPhone sold. So, with such unprecedented sales and profit, Apple would surely fulfill the dreams of its late CEO Steve Jobs and cast a shadow on the Galaxy S III, at least in the near term.