Apple sells 9 mln 5s, 5c iPhones in first three days

By Jennifer Saba

(Reuters) - Apple Inc said it sold 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models in their first three days on the market, the most successful iPhone launch ever.

Apple shares rose more than 5 percent to $493.47 in early trading on Monday following the news.

Demand for the iPhone 5s has exceeded initial supplies, and many online orders are scheduled to be shipped in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement.

"It's a great number," said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners. "We have been saying they will be selling every 5s they can make and it looks like that is the case."

When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 a year ago, it sold more than 5 million in the first three days after its launch.

On Friday, long lines formed outside stores in Tokyo, New York, San Francisco and other cities for Apple's new top-of-the-line 5s and the less-expensive 5c. It was the first time Apple launched two iPhone models simultaneously.

Apple did not break out separate sales figures for the 5s and 5c. The 5s model, whose price starts at $199, offers a touch ID that scans a user's fingerprint to unlock the phone. The less expensive 5c, which starts at $99, comes in an array of colors.

Apple also said in a regulatory filing it expects total revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter to be near the high end of the previously estimated range of $34 billion to $37 billion. Analysts' average forecast is $36.10 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey and John Wallace)