New iPhone 6s hit stores worldwide

The new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus hit stores on Friday, with dozens of people — and a robot — queueing in Sydney to kick off a global sales cycle that will be scrutinized for signs of how much juice Apple Inc.’s marquee product has left.Analysts expect 12 million to 13 million phones to fly off the shelves in the first weekend, up from more than 10 million last year when the hugely successful iPhone 6’s launch was delayed in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market.

Among the first to pick up the new iPhone 6s in a cold, rainy Sydney was a telepresence robot named Lucy, operated by marketing executive Lucy Kelly.“I obviously have my work and other things to attend to and can’t spend two days lining up so my boss at work suggested I take one of the robots down and use it to stand in my place,” she said via an iPad mounted on top of the wheeled robot. “I love new gadgets. The new camera is meant to be amazing.”

Fans from San Francisco to London to Sydney have camped out for days prior to the release, and Apple said earlier this month that pre-orders suggested sales were on pace to beat last year’s first-weekend performance.Apple’s flagship iPhones generated nearly two-thirds of the U.S. giant’s revenue in the latest quarter. First released in 2007, the iPhone is Apple’s best-selling device to date.