iPhone 5 Sells 2 Million Units During Debut China Weekend

Apple's iPhone 5 has sold over two million units during its launch weekend in China, subsequently setting a sales record for the country.

"Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products."

The iPhone 5 became available on Thursday in China, with pre-orders for the device ranging in the hundreds of thousands. Although the region's largest carrier, China Mobile, has yet to offer the device, both China Telecom and China Unicom are offering it to their subscribers.

China is an important market for Apple; it's the firm's second biggest market after the United States and accounts for around 15 percent ($23.8 billion) of the company's revenue for its fiscal year that ended in September.

Upon the iPhone 5's launch in the U.S. during September, it sold over 5 million units in its launch weekend, a million higher than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. Preceding that was record pre-order figures, with over 2 million consumers reserving the smartphone.

Aside from China, the iPhone 5 will launch in more than 50 other countries by the end of the month. China received the WiFi versions of the iPad Mini and iPad 4 just over two weeks ago.

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