NEW DELHI: In probably a first for a gadget launch in the country, iPhone lovers will be able to lay their hands on their favourite toy at midnight on August 22. To celebrate the launch, both service providers, Airtel and Vodafone, will keep their select stores in key metros open well past midnight. The companies have taken special permission for the same.
Airtel will open three of its stores, one each in national capital region of Delhi (read Gurgaon), Mumbai and Bangalore to cater to prospective iPhone buyers on a first-come-first-serve basis.
In NCR, the unveiling will take place at Airtel brand shop in Sahara Mall, Gurgaon. The company claimed that over 2 lakh prospective buyers had registered on its website for an iPhone. What it did not mention was the fact that it was before iPhone prices for India had been announced. At Rs 31,000 for the 8GB model, many a prospective customers may simply choose not to buy an iPhone.
Both, Airtel and Vodafone, expect a huge rush and people queueing up to lay their hands on the ultimate piece-de-resistence. However, it remains to be seen how many people eventually queue up to buy the iPhone at a price more than four times that in the US.
Unlike in other markets where iPhone sales have been marked by huge marketing and branding hype, there has been virtually no media blitzkrieg from the two service providers or from Apple prior to the Indian launch. Both GSM operators have been authorised to sell iPhone in India by Apple unlike in most countries where the company has stuck to choosing only one operator for the sales.
As reported by Indiatimes Infotech, Essar Vodafone had, on Wednesday text messaged its pre-registered customers that it would start selling the 8GB iPhone at Rs 31,000 and the 16GB model at Rs 36,100.
This has spelt disappointment for a large number of potential buyers who were expecting a price tag closer to US pricing. Many upset readers wrote in expressing their disappointment with the development.
Bharti Airtel, too, intimated its prospective buyers by mail on Thursday that the company would sell iPhones at exactly the same price as Essar Vodafone.
The two companies will be the first in the country to have a midnight launch of a tech product. The concept of a midnight launch did not exist in India until now, as authorities do not allow stores to remain open until midnight.
The reason behind the midnight launch could be many, right from anticipating iPhone frenzy like the one the world witnessed when the iPhone had its global debut on July 11. Or it could be just hype, or a marketing gimmick by these companies to catch the early birds!
Whether the iPhone mania results in snaking queues and genuine customers camping outside, remains to be seen.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/iPhone_at_midnight_A_fantasy_turned_sour/rssarticleshow/3390535.cms
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