iPhone frenzy grips India, retailers await stocks

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: The rush for the latest iPhones, which were launched in India on November 1, has seen the costlier iPhone 5S model sold out across the country and retailers asking Apple for emergency replenishments, which are expected in the next two days, some of them said. To be sure, not too many phones may have been supplied by the company, with the trade estimating the number of 5S devices at 6,000 units.

Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel, along with major retail chains, have sought additional stocks, but the Diwali weekend has delayed re-stocking efforts. Top multi-brand cellphone and electronic retail chains such as The MobileStore, PlanetM, UniverCell and Future Group say their iPhone 5S stocks are over but that they still have iPhone 5C phones.

PlanetM Retail chief executive Sanjay Karwa said those who want the iPhone 5S aren't willing to settle for the iPhone 5C. Manish Chaubey, 32, an executive at a multinational based in Gurgaon, was one of those disappointed. "I went to buy the 16GB iPhone 5S. I have made several enquiries at retail stores as well as Airtel and Reliance outlets and am really frustrated as they say stocks are sold out and they aren't sure when they will get fresh stocks," he said.

According to trade estimates, about 30,000 units were launched in India. Of these, some 6,000 were iPhone 5S models. Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile phone operator, and RCom, the third largest, began selling the smartphones through bundled offers on November 1 and 2, respectively. Retail chains began selling the device on November 1.

"Reliance Communications was supplied around 2,700 units and it was sold off in one and a half days," a company official familiar with the matter told ET on Monday. He said that the company has been in touch with Apple and is hopeful of getting fresh stocks of both models sometime this week.

A Bharti Airtel spokesman said the company had sought additional stocks, and is awaiting Apple's response. "Things are a bit delayed given this is a Diwali weekend," the person said. An industry insider said Bharti Airtel had got about 700 units, all of which had been sold out. Bharti Airtel didn't confirm the figure.

On Saturday evening, retailers asked Apple to get its distributors, Redington and Ingram Micro, to send them any remaining iPhone 5S stocks. These reached stores on Sunday evening and were sold out by noon on Monday.

While the telecom companies echoed the view of retailers that the iPhone 5S has seen much higher demand than the iPhone 5C, they have exhausted stocks of both models and their variants, thanks to the deals available. The phone is available for the first time under the kind of contracts available overseas.

Under RCom's bundled offer, buyers can get the base models of both the 5C and 5S for zero upfront payment. They need to make monthly payments of Rs 2,599 and Rs 2,999, respectively, which includes unlimited voice calls and data usage. Read More Original Post