Apple: New iPhones on pace to top first-weekend sales record

The recently-announced iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is approaching another sales record for the tech giant.

Apple said Monday customer reaction to the new smartphones -- which were made available for pre-order on September 12 -- has been "extremely positive."

"We are on pace to beat last year's 10 million unit first-weekend record when the new iPhones go on sale September 25,' said Apple spokeswoman Trudy Miller. "As many customers noticed, the online demand for iPhone 6s Plus has been exceptionally strong and exceeded our own forecasts for the preorder period."

According to the Apple Store website, some models of the 6s and 6s Plus boast a shipment wait time as long as 4 weeks.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster projects Apple will sell 12 to 13 million iPhones during its launch weekend.

Unveiled during an event in San Francisco last Wednesday, the 6s and 6s Plus will feature a faster processor, upgraded 12-megapixel camera and features including Live Photos, which offers subtle video animations to photos. The devices go on sale September 25.

Shares of Apple are up 1% in midday trading.

Along with the new iPhones, Apple introduced an upgrade program that lets customers essentially lease a phone they can keep or trade in for the next model after one year.

China is playing a big role in the strong start for iPhone pre-orders, says FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives, citing room for growth with Apple's 15% market share in the region and rising demand for the App Store.

"With strong initial pre-sales indications and less than 30% of customers upgrading to the iPhone 6 to date, coupled with this innovative 6s model, we believe the stage is set for Apple to catalyze growth on the heels of this super-cycle product upgrade for the coming quarters," says Ives.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.