New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS): Apple iPhone 12 became the worlds best-selling 5G smartphone model in October despite a delayed launch, which resulted in only two weeks of sales during the month, a new report said on Monday.

The iPhone 12 Pro was the second best-selling 5G model for the month, according to Counterpoint Research's monthly Market Pulse Service.

The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro together captured close to one-fourth of the total 5G smartphone sales in October.

"Going forward, the demand for the iPhone 12 series is likely to remain strong through Q4 2020, especially during the festive season in December," said Varun Mishra, a Research Analyst with Counterpoint Research.

The iPhone 12 also entered the top 10 bestseller list of 5G devices for January-October 2020, attaining the seventh position.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, which was the best-selling 5G device in September, slipped to the third position.

"There is a large pent-up demand for 5G upgrade, especially within the iOS base, which is now getting converted into sales. This was complemented by strong carrier promos, especially in the US, which accounted for over one-third of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro sales for the month," Mishra elaborated.

China and Japan also saw strong initial demand for the iPhone 12 series.

According to the report, due to the late launch, some of the sales will be pushed to subsequent months, thus maintaining the momentum of the iPhone 12 series in early 2021 as well.

"Through the iPhone 12 series, Apple has also given a much-needed push to the 5G smartphone market, which cornered its highest ever share of 24 per cent in the global smartphone sales in October," Mishra pointed out.