 "iPhone 5 sold out in India, 15,000 gone in 24 hours")
A couple of days ago we had exclusively reported that the iPhone 5 was sold out across resellers in India. Now, The Wall Street Journal has also chimed in stating that a few days after Apple’s flagship smartphone landed on shelves in India, the stocks had run dry.
The WSJ contacted Himanshu Chakrawarti, chief executive of The MobileStore Ltd that runs 900 outlets across India. He states, “We were sold out within 24 hours of launch. It’s all gone.”
Apple iPhone 5 sold out in India
The report by the WSJ states that sources have informed it that 10,000 to 15,000 units made its way to India for the first round of sales. Analysts also informed it that Apple’s specialised distribution partners and mobile phone companies have together placed orders with the Cupertino-based company to ship 100,000 iPhone 5 units to India to be sold within the first month.
Those trying to get their hands on the handset can try their luck by buying it through the grey market at the same cost as the official channels, but potential buyers would also need to wait. The wait, however, is not as long, and they can get it within a day or two of placing the order.
Here is a quick look at some of the highlighted features of the iPhone 5:
- 4-inch, 326ppi Retina display at 1136 x 640 pixels,
- GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, LTE and Wi-Fi
- GPS
- Bluetooth
- 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD recording, 720p front-facing camera
- 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions
Apple has teamed up with a couple of distribution channels, namely Redington and Ingram Micro to sell the iPhone 5 in India. Redington, one of the distributors of the iPhone 5 in India, revealed the prices of the handset with the base model (16GB) being launched for Rs 45,500. The 32GB version of the iPhone 5 will be available for Rs 52,500, and the 64GB model for Rs 59,500. These prices are more or less on par with the iPhone 4S from the previous generation, when it was first launched in India. Apple has also tied up with Ingram Micro Inc, which is a large US-based distributor of technologies, as well as Redington India Ltd, a local distributor with 12,000 smaller partners across the country.
The iPhone 5 is made entirely out of aluminium and glass, weighs 112 grams and is 20 percent lighter than the iPhone 4S, and is the thinnest iPhone yet at 7.6mm. Apple has chosen to debut iOS 6 with the iPhone 5. The new OS includes Apple’s own Maps app, an updated version of Siri and lots more. Overall, the new iPhone has been upgraded in almost all respects.
Siri has also been updated and new features include support for more languages, easy access to sports scores, restaurant recommendations and movie listings; Siri and Facebook-enabled apps such as Photos, Safari and Maps; and Shared Photo Streams via iCloud. However, a majority of Siri’s new capabilities are not available in India just yet.
Read all the latest news on the iPhone 5 here.
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