No Diwali launch for Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus?

After an earlier report claimed that the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus would launch in India only by November, a report in the Economic Times  has also said that the launch will finally happen in November.

It should be noted that when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus page went live on the Apple website, it showed 26 September as the initial release date for India. The date was then changed to 17 October and after that the launch date completely disappeared and has found no mention on the page at all. Post all of this, rumours have gained traction that the iPhone 6 launch in India would be delayed.

Last year the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c had launched just in time for Diwali and this year Diwali is on 23 October and so far we’ve not seen any marketing campaign from Apple which would indicate that the launch is coming soon.

According to the ET report, while the bosses at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino want the launch delayed to November, Apple’s “India team and distributors in the country want to make the most of upcoming festive demand by launching it before Diwali.”

The report quotes three senior executives with “Apple’s trade’s partners in India” who say that a final launch date is not set. One executive told the paper that due to the global demand Cupertino is rethinking the decision to launch in India by October.

It should be noted that China too has seen a delay in the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, unlike last year when the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launched in China during the first phase itself. According to a Reuters report the delay is due to regulatory hurdles as China has allowed the new iPhone approval for use on domestic frequencies, but the phone cannot be sold in China until a key network license is granted, which has not yet been granted.

The delay in China and India has meant that the grey market sellers are cheering as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is selling for as high as Rs 1 lakh in Indian grey market. In China too buyers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia are taking the phone to mainland China for re-selling.

As far as the iPhone success is concerned, Apple claims to have sold 10 million devices in the opening weekend itself. But it hasn’t been all good for Apple as there have been charges that the iPhone 6 Plus is prone ’to bending’, a charge that Apple has dismissed and according to latest reports might be over-stated.

Bendgate or not, there’s no doubt that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will see a high demand, at least with the niche Apple-loving, well-to-do segment when it does launch in India. While we can’t say for sure that the Apple launch is delayed, given that Apple hasn’t officially commented, there’s a good chance that the delay could take place due to supply issues.