There has been a lot of speculation, hits and missed about the launch of the Apple iPhone 5 in India. Apple in its trademark style, revelas the product without any warning or advance notice (generally) and a press release lands in our inbox. However, ever since the India market started getting iPhones and iPads within a month or so of US launch, the speculations and rush to leak these details have increased considerably.
The iPhone 5 launched in US last month and many have already guessed the India launch date. So when would the iPhone 5 come to India? The popular guess is of course today, but that doesn’t seem to be happening with distributors keeping mum. Given Apple has cut the prices of iPhone 4S and 4 in India, they sure are preparing for iPhone 5. During the iPhone 5 launch last month, Apple has promised a roll-out in 100 countries by December. They are in less than 50 now, so we can expect an announcement any moment.
The iPhone 4S sold for a little over 40,000 for the base model in India and we expect similar pricing this time too. In fact there is also news of pre-orders being accepted online for an initial amount of Rs 5000. That looked fishy given that no launch price or announcement from Apple was seen. November 2 is being said to be the shipment date now.
Apart from the iPhone 5, Apple users are also looking at the iPad upgrades in India. Apple upgraded the iPad to 4th generation and added a lightening port along with better front camera and processor. At the same time the new iPad mini models are expected to be in good demand given its lower pricing.
Update: The pricing has been confirmed as Rs 45,500 for 16GB, Rs 52,500 for 32GB and Rs 59,500 for 64GB.