Dubai
Pre-booked Apple aficionados can get their hands on the new iPhones from the grey market starting Saturday but at a premium.
Online traders said there is a strong demand for Apple’s new phones in the UAE.
“We have started getting strong pre-orders and the traffic on our website is very high,” Omar Kassim, CEO and founder of JadoPado.com, told Gulf News.
“We have started pre-bookings three days ago for iPhone 6 and the demand has been overwhelming. We haven’t started pre-booking for the bigger iPhone 6 Plus as there is a shortage at the moment. The demand has been much more than the older Apple models,” he said.
Both du and etisalat are starting the pre-bookings from Thursday at 12.01am on their websites. However, etisalat’s website had already started accepting pre-bookings (registrations) from Wednesday.
The telecom operators were not available to comment on the pricing and the availability. Du’s website said that the phones will be available from September 27.
The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus will be available in the UAE from September 27 at all retail outlets.
“We have been told to be ready for the September 27 launch from etisalat. The demand should be really strong and we are getting a lot of enquiries,” said Ashish Panjabi, COO at Jacky’s Electronics.
Kassim said that some customers will get it on Saturday and others will get it on Sunday.
“We have got pre-bookings from more than 500 customers but we will be getting only 150 phones. The pre-booked customers will get it on Saturday,” said Naushad Pava, customer service agent at mygsm.me.
He said that all the customers want the devices on Saturday itself so “we are finding it very difficult” to supply.
“The demand is more for iPhone 6 Plus and especially for the 128GB,” he said.
“We have enough stocks to meet the demand. The demand is definitely going to be strong due to the bigger screen sizes. The form factor hasn’t changed for the past two years, so many of the Apple customers moved to other smartphone makers due to bigger screen sizes. Since Apple has come out with bigger screen sizes, many of the Apple fans will revert to iPhones,” he said.
Apple already got more than four million pre-orders in the first 24 hours of the launch.
An industry source close to the telecom operators said that the iPhone 6 starts from Dh2,749 and 6 Plus from Dh3,149.
JadoPado is selling the iPhone 6 (16GB) for Dh4,349, 64GB for Dh4,849 and 128GB for Dh5,349 while mygsm is selling the iPhone 6 (16GB) for Dh2,999, 64GB for Dh3,350, 128GB for Dh3,900; iPhone 6 Plus (16GB) for Dh3,900, 64GB for Dh4,500, 128GB for Dh5,300.
Regarding the high pricing, Kassim said that all the stocks coming into the UAE are alternatively sourced. "It is passing through at least three or four suppliers before we get our hands on it," he said.
Apple’s online store in the UAE will start pre-bookings from September 27 for the new iPhones and the iPhone 6 comes in gold, silver and space grey, and will be available for Dh2,599 for the 16GB model, Dh2,999 for the 64GB model and, for the first time, a new 128GB model for Dh3,399.
iPhone 6 Plus will be available for Dh2,999 for the 16GB model, Dh3,399 for the 64GB model and Dh3,799 for the new 128GB model.
