The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are leading the pack in the race for the top selling smartphones, Canaccord Genuity's Apple analyst Michael Walkley said, as reported by Forbes.

The iPhone 5s and 5c were released simultaneously in September as a part of Apple's big season of releases including new iPads and the iOS 7 operating system. The two iPhones marked the first time Apple released two iPhones at once, and although the more budget-friendly iPhone 5c has not had the same success or reputation as the iPhone 5s, both have fared well early on.

"Our U.S. and global handset surveys indicated strong ongoing sales of the iPhone 5s and solid sales of the Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 smartphones at all four tier-1 U.S. carriers and also in several international markets. Our global surveys indicated seasonally softer sales of low-mid-tier Android smartphones from Chinese OEMs in China following strong sales into the first week of the October holiday season. In addition, our surveys indicated steady global sales of Samsung's mid-low-tier smartphones backed by Samsung's aggressive promotions and pricing," Walkley said.

The sales are outpacing the predictions set forward when the two iPhones were first released on the shelves in stores. Walkey said he estimated that 52 million phones would be sold in the December quarter but now, based on the information he has seen on how the phones have done so far since the September release, he is instead predicting that number to be 54 million.

In other related news, the prices for the iPhone 5c may be dropping yet again at select retail locations this week. According to the LA Times, Wal Mart is selling the iPhone 5c for only $27 with a two-year contract. The iPhone 5s, which was at $199, will now be marked down to $127 with the same contract as the iPhone 5c.