Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: "Historically in the month before a new iPhone is released we see a drop in sales share for Apple as users hold out for the new model. However, Apple has managed to limit the drop this year with its share of sales dipping just 1.6 percentage points versus July this year – almost half the equivalent drop seen in 2013 ahead of the iPhone 5 launch.

This has in part been achieved through focusing on the iPhone 5c which tends to attract a slightly less tech savvy buyer who will be less likely to be holding off for the iPhone 6. The iPhone 5c was the best-selling phone in Britain in August with 8.9% share, outselling the flagship iPhone 5s with 7.6% and the Samsung Galaxy S5 with 6.0%."

Another Kantar study that we reported on in February noted that in Britain 74% of 5C buyers were female versus just 36% for the 5S.

Despite Apple managing to maintain its sales momentum in the run up to the iPhone 6 release, there are a huge number of iPhone owners who are currently up for renewal. Of the 13.3 million iPhone owners in the UK almost a third – some four million – are ready for an upgrade.

Sunnebo continues: "Even before the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were revealed, 85% of British iPhone owners planned to choose another iPhone at upgrade time. Loyalty has never been Apple's problem." In Britain, it's expected that the new iPhone 6-Plus phablet could attract up to 13% of Samsung Note owners - though only time will tell if Apple will be able to beat that estimate.

In respect to phablets, Kantar's Carolina Milanesi added that smartphones with a screen size between 5 and 5.4" represented 24.6% of overall sales in the US. This is the market that Apple's iPhone Plus will now be addressing and is likely to do exceedingly well in.

The ten iPhone 6 Plus reviews that are noted in Engadget's report covers The Verge, TechRadar, TechCrunch, CNET, The New York Times and others, with all giving Apple's new phablet two thumbs up.

Will Apple's new Phablet be able to unseat the leading Galaxy Note in the US over the holiday quarter? Despite disputable FUD reports, Apple's iPhone 6 Plus is off to a great start. Only time will tell if Apple's first phablet could pull off an upset and take down Samsung's leading phablet.

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