China iPhone 5 sales hit record 2 million in first 3 days

Apple Inc on Monday said it sold more than 2 million iPhone 5 units in China in their first three days of availability , setting a record for the market.

The technology giant's latest offering, the iPhone 5, was launched in China on Friday. It will be available in more than 100 countries by the end of December.

The phone first went on sale on September 21 in the US, Germany, France, Japan and five other countries, with more than 5 million of the phones sold in the first three days.

That sales tally also set a record, but beat last year's iPhone 4S launch by only a small margin, falling short of some analysts' expectations.



Apple shares hit an all-time high of $705.07 that day, but in the months since the stock has plunged about 28 per cent.

Also on Sunday, Citi analyst Glen Yeung cut his rating for the California-based company to "Neutral" from "Buy", questioning the strength of iPhone 5 demand and saying that it's unlikely Apple shares will rally any time soon.

Apple Inc shares fell $6.85 to $502.94 in pre-market trading Monday.