Apple has officially launched iPhone 5, its latest flagship smartphone, in India today at promotional events in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore. The company has partnered with distribution masters Redington and Ingram Micro, which revealed the launch date for the phone last week, to retail the device across the country.
Shyam Sales, an official reseller of Apple products in Delhi, has announced that it will host a launch event for iPhone 5 at DLF Place, Saket District Centre at 7 pm in the national capital. According to media reports, other iPhone 5 launch events will take place in Galleria, DLF Phase 2, Gurgaon; Inorbit Mall, Malad and Phoenix, Tulsi Pipe Road in Mumbai and UB City, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore.
The 16, 32 and 64GB variants of Apple iPhone 5 will cost Rs 45,500, Rs 52,500 and Rs 59,500, respectively. Various online retailers like Snapdeal,Infibeam, Saholic etc were taking pre-orders for the device even before Apple or its distribution partners gave an official statement.
iPhone 5 works only with a nano-sim card, which no other smartphone across the world uses. Airtel began taking pre-orders for iPhone 5 earlier this week, indicating that it has a stock of nano-sim cards, which are meant only for the phone. Vodafone has already confirmed to media that it has an inventory of nano-sim cards in place. Other major telecom operators in India are also expected to maintain a stock for these sim cards.
The only other device that uses nano-sim cards is Apple iPad mini, which became available for sale in various parts of Asia today.
By partnering with Redington and Ingram Micro, Apple has broken away from its earlier strategy of retailing its devices via telecom partners Airtel and Aircel. This makes way for other telecom operators to make their services available for the iPhone, which they could not due to carrier restrictions.
Moreover, this move opens up the way for standalone mobile phone retailers across all parts of the country to sell iPhones. This has already triggered a minor price war in the market, reported by THB earlier this week, as sellers seem ready to undercut their margins in a bid to rake in volumes.
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