Sales in China have boosted sales in Apple’s new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, with both phones going on sale to the public last Friday to the highest sales on record for an Apple device in its opening weekend.

Both phones sold a cumulative 13 million handsets globally for the three sales days ending last Sunday, up from the previous record figure of 10 million for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus for the same period in 2014.

Despite a marked slowdown in its economic growth, the notable difference in 2015 was the contribution of China, with sales in the middle kingdom significantly adding to the number; by contrast the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus did not go on sale in China at the same time as other global territories in 2014.

“Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in a statement. “Customers’ feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos, and we can’t wait to bring iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to customers in even more countries on October 9.”

The reference to more countries comes as the company also announced expanded global sales of what already looks like a global hit device for the tech giant.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available in more than 40 additional countries beginning October 9 including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan. The new iPhones will be available in over 130 countries by the end of the year.

Chinese growth

Despite markets being generally pessimistic about China as the country’s economy comes off an unprecedented period of excessively high growth (over 12 percent every year for the last 20 years), what is often missed is that China hasn’t overnight turned into a slow growth Western economy but instead still has by Western standards strong economic growth; in 2014 that figure was 7.3 percent, and although it may come in at closer to 6 percent in 2015, that’s 6+ percent growth in a country with the world largest population of 1.4 billion, many still emerging into the middle class for the first time.

While there are significant risks in the Chinese economy, in particular the risk of a residential sector construction crash, that’s not going to stop its citizens desiring to acquire an iPhone any time soon, particularly as in the middle kingdom, along with significant portions of Asia, ownership of an iPhone is seen as a status symbol of wealth, something that shows you’re able to afford it.

Countries getting the new iPhones for the first time October 9 are: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.

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