Dubai: Retailers and telco operators in the UAE are gearing up to sell the new iPhones – 6S and 6S Plus – from Friday midnight at major malls and outlets.

For the first time, all the retailers in the UAE are getting the supplies directly from Apple. Normally, it used to be through telco operators.

Nadeem Khanzadah, head of omnichannel retail at Jumbo Group, said they got more than 500 pre-orders with 100 per cent cash in advance, apart from the loyal customers where they haven’t collected any advance.

Both the retailers as well as the telco operators started accepting pre-orders a couple of days ago and they will be selling not only to customers who pre-ordered, but also on over-the-counter sales during the midnight launch.

“We have got enough stocks and the stocks are already with us directly from Apple,” he said.

Retailers say they will open their outlets for midnight launch for about two to two-and-a-half hours and also bring it to Shopper on Saturday.

“We had discussions with the Dubai World Trade Centre to sell the devices at our Gitex stands on Friday midnight itself, but due to logistics issues we had dropped the plan,” Khanzadah said.

Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO of Emax Electronics, said that supply will not be an issue. Apple has assured us they will provide as much as retailers want.

“Dubai has got full quantity this year unlike like last year,” he said.

The phones will also be available in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia on October 10.

“We expect massive demand for the new device, and if the worldwide launch was any indication, we expect great sales for the new iPhone. The good news is our initial allocation was very strong so we expect to have good supply to cater to this,” said Omar Abushaban, general manager for Plug Ins.

Prices:

Apple will be selling the iPhone 6S for Dh2,599 for the 16GB model; Dh2,999 for the 64GB model; and Dh3,399 for the 128GB model. And it will sell iPhone 6S Plus for Dh2,999 for the 16GB model; Dh3,399 for the 64GB model; and Dh3,799 for the 128GB model.

The devices will be available in gold, silver, space grey and the new rose gold metallic finishes.

Apple said its designed accessories, including leather and silicon cases in a range of colours, with Lightning Docks in colour-matched metallic finishes, will also be available.

Etisalat is selling the standalone iPhone 6S for Dh2,699 (16GB), Dh3,099 (64GB) and Dh3,499 (128GB). The iPhone 6S Plus will be available at Dh3,099 (16GB), Dh3,499 (64GB) and Dh3,899 (128GB).

Etisalat’s website showed that 6S Plus (128GB) is already sold out.

Du is selling the iPhone 6S for Dh2,749 (16GB), Dh3,149 (64GB), Dh3,599 (128GB). The iPhone 6S Plus will be available at Dh3,149 (16GB), Dh3,599 (64GB) and Dh3,999 (128GB).

Etisalat said the iPhone 6s is available from monthly rentals of Dh265, Dh400 and Dh650 while the iPhone 6S Plus is available at Dh290, Dh425 and Dh675 monthly. In addition, customers can enjoy monthly data allowance of 5GB, 10GB and 20GB respectively.

Etisalat’s smartphone plans for the iPhone 6S also includes flexi or local minutes on all three packages, such as the 20GB monthly data package bundled with 750 flexi or 2,000 local minutes.

Prepaid customers can also get the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus devices with 10GB free data by simply dialling “Deal of the Day number” *050#.

Du has come out with three main offers.

The zero upfront package for Dh250 per month gives 2GB of data per month and the Dh300 per month package gives 11GB data and 300 flexi minutes on a monthly basis for a contract period of 24 months.

“The high-end package of Dh1,000 per month for 24 months will get 2,500 flexi minutes, 25GB of data, gold number and every year two free iPhones,” du said.

By pre-ordering with a new postpaid number from du, subscribers can avail many smart plans and Emirati plans worth Dh300, Dh600 and Dh1,000 which offer free talk time, data, SMS and free minutes for up to three preferred UAE numbers.

For more details, visit the company websites.