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Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales top 10 million

Apple sold a record 10 million iPhones in its first weekend. That's 1 million more than the iPhone 5 and 5C, and the new iPhones haven't begun selling in China.

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Adrees Latif/Reuters/File
Local resident Andreas Gibson celebrates with employees outside the Fifth Avenue Apple store after being the first to exit with an iPhone 6 in hand on the first day of sales in Manhattan, New York September 19. Apple Inc's latest phone lured throngs of gadget lovers, entrepreneurs and early adapters to its stores in New York, San Francisco and other cities around the world in the latest sign of strong initial demand for the new, larger generation of iPhones.

Apple didn't just beat expected sales of the new iPhones, it blew them out of the water.

Apple announced Monday that it sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones in its first weekend on the market. That beats the record 9 million iPhone 5 and 5C sold during the first weekend. 

"Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible."

The new generation of iPhones is an attempt to enter the 'phablet' market. The screen on the iPhone 6 is 4.7 diagonal inches and 5.5 inches for the iPhone 6 Plus. The previous iPhone 5S and 5C are 4 inches. Many believe that phablets, phones with a screen that's 5.5 inches or larger, are the future of the phone industry. In China, the largest cellphone market in the world, 20 percent of all phones that were sold in 2013 were phablets, according to a study done by the research firm IDC. The study predicted that the sales for the larger phones will outpace the sales of laptops.

The sales numbers were on the upper end of what most experts expected. Analysts anticipated the phone to sell between 6.5 million and the low eight-digits.

The number of iPhones sold over the weekend doesn't include those sold in the Chinese market. Apple has been forced to delay sales in China until Chinese regulators approve the new devices.

But that isn't keeping some in China from getting their hands on the new phones. A black market for the phones in China has sprung up. Resellers are standing outside Apple stores and promising two-day delivery on a 16-gigabyte iPhone 6 for $1,300 to $2,400, according to Bloomberg.

“It’s going to be a while before the new iPhone comes to China officially, so if you want it now, you have to pay up,” reseller Liu Min told Bloomberg. “Give me a call if you want one.”

The sales numbers came as a much needed boost to Apple, which has been in engulfed in controversy over the leaking of nude celebrity photos. The leaks caused many to question the security of Apple's devices, though Apple maintains that its systems are secure. 

"Security and privacy are fundamental to the design of all our hardware, software, and services, including iCloud and new services like Apple Pay," Mr. Cook wrote in a letter to customers. 

The opening weekend sales is a good sign for the new generation of iPhones, and the numbers will only get better when the phones begin selling in China. 

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