• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, September 28, 2015

Between the App Store’s first large-scale attack, a lukewarm reception for its latest iPads, and an unsteady stock price, Apple was in need of some good news.

This appears to have come in the form of record iPhone sales. Apple says it sold more than 13 million new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models just three days after their launch.

By comparison, Apple’s last batch of iPhones sold about 10 million units during their debut weekend.   

With its strong reviews, powerful camera, and sexy curved-glass face, Samsung’s latest Galaxy smartphone is considered to be a real threat to the iPhone. These latest numbers, however, show that Apple’s hasn’t lost its magic touch in the all-important smartphone sector.

Among other new features, consumers appear to have been sufficiently wowed by the iPhone’s 3D Touch technology, which senses how deeply you press the display, and responds accordingly.

China is chiefly responsible for the record iPhone sales. Trying to keep the party going, Apple plans to make the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus available in more than 40 additional countries by early next month, including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan.

By the end of the year, the new iPhones are expected to be available in more than 130 countries, by Apple’s estimate. If it can maintain the existing sales momentum, the company that Steve Jobs built will have had a very good year.