Apple’s new iPhone 6 models flew off the shelves during their debut sales weekend, eclipsing the previous nine million record set by the iPhone 5s and 5c when they first went on sale last year.

“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier,” purred Tim Cook (pictured), Apple’s CEO, on news that 10 million units had been sold. “We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin.”

Demand is exceeding supply said Cook 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,” he said.

Financial Times reported that UK mobile operators said sales of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus were split 70:30 per cent through sales channels. iPhone 6 Plus is Apple’s first foray into the ‘phablet’ market with a 5.5-inch Retina HD display.

Pre-orders for the latest smartphones have also broken records, with interest for four million units registered in the first 24 hours available.

The record sales were reached despite the new versions of the iPhone not yet being available in China, where the devices have reportedly entered the final stage of the approval process.

Both iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, UK and US. Apple said they’ll become available in more than 20 additional countries on 26 September, then reaching 115 countries by the end of the year.

Apple Pay will be available to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus customers in the US as a free iOS 8 update from October.