Apple's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus coming to India on 16 October

Apple has confirmed that the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be officially available in India from 16 October. This is a part of the 49-country roll-out the company has planned in October. The countries include Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Turkey. While pricing details have not been revealed, we expect an announcement closer to the date. Another 130 countries will be added to the list before the end of the year.

The news comes amid what has been a record-breaking weekend for iPhone sales. More than 13 million iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were sold on the first weekend the two devices went on sale in some countries. “Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in an official statement. This is a 30% jump over the 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus that were sold on the first weekend after release last year. And it has been a steady growth for Apple, because in 2013, they sold a combined 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c over the same period.

One of the reasons behind record sales this year is that China was one of the countries where the iPhones were launched in the first wave. Even though the country is struggling with sluggish smartphone sales, there is a big appetite for iPhones. In January-March 2015, Apple opened new stores in China, as a part of its 40-store roll-out plan by 2016. In April-July 2015, it reported $16.823 billion in revenue for Greater China, up from 71% year-on-year. The App Store revenue also grew 100% in the country. This put China firmly as Apple’s second-largest market after America.

Apple has also moved away from the usual pattern of allowing pre-orders one week before the iPhones actually hit the shelves in stores, and started pre-orders two weeks in advance. The extra time that allowed users to register and book their shiny new iPhones immediately meant more sales, which helped Apple clock these record-breaking numbers.

However, while it has been a smooth ride for Apple in the first wave of countries, things might become a tad less frenetic when it reaches the markets in Asia and the Middle East, where mobile service providers do not bundle phones with the tariff plan, which increases the initial cost of buying the device.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus pack in a better camera, the 3D Touch feature that make them more intuitive to use apps and run the latest iOS 9 operating system.