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Over the past weekend, Apple Inc. sold a combined nine million units of its newly released iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. The announcement, which was made by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, caused a 5 percent upward swing in Apple shares on the stock market. Value of Apple’s stock soared by 5 percent to $490.64 per share just as demand for the new iPhones surged. The company has reviewed its fourth quarter projection for gross earnings, stating that it anticipates earnings of $37 billion, as against a previous projection of $34 billion. Though the company did not release details regarding which of the two iPhones accounted for the most sales, mobile technology analysts are of the view that the iPhone 5S sold more than its lowly-priced iPhone 5C. Mobile analytics firm, Localytics, observed that, based on data analysis, iPhone 5S activations were three times more than those of iPhone 5C during the past weekend. During the first weekend of the release of the iPhone 5 in 2012, 5 million units were sold; thus, an 80 percent increase in sales performance over the older version of the iPhone 5. Some analysts, however, think that the reason for the jump in sales can be ascribed to China’s inclusion, the first ever, on the list of countries scheduled for the launch. The speculation among some pundits in the technology market is that, by releasing the iPhone 5C, Apple merely appealed to the psychological frailty of consumers, who could easily come up with a self-convincing rationale for spending additional $100 to get the iPhone 5S instead of the 5C. Cook explained that more batches of the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C would be released in the market, while describing the recent release as “our best iPhone launch yet.” “We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone,” he said.

A new iPhone 5S has sold for over $10,000 on eBay. Photo AFP — A limited gold-plated iPhone 5S sold for $10,000 on eBay.Photo AFP

“The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5S, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly,” Cook explained. The company also announced that about 200 million devices are running on the iOS 7 platform, the recent mobile operating system from the company, which makes the OS the fastest software upgrade in the history of Apply, according to its CEO. A limited and rare gold-plated edition of the iPhone 5S reportedly sold for $10,100 on ebay, as a fan of the brand closed the bid on the auction site on Monday.