Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus India launch date hits grey market sellers hard

Apple has updated its marketing and sales strategy to make an impact in India

Apple's decision to start sales of its new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus smartphones in India just a week after their global launch may be welcome news for die-hard fans of the Cupertino-based tech giant's products but it has driven the cheer out of the country's grey markets, according to reports.

Apple will launch the new iPhones in India on September 29 with pre-booking starting from September 22. According to the Economic Times, this means that die-hard fans who would rush to grey market sellers in places like Mumbai’s Heera Panna market and Delhi’s Gaffar Market to get their hands on the latest iPhone, that too at a high premium, ahead of others who would wait for its official launch can now get their gadget of choice pretty much at the same time as the rest of the world sans the premium price. Consequently, these grey markets have hardly seen any pre-bookings this time, according to the financial daily.

ALSO READ: Will iPhone X hurt iPhone 8 and 8 Plus sale? Here's what experts say

According to the financial daily, the date from when pre-booking starts is the same date on when Apple will be launching the new smartphones in countries like Singapore, China, the UAE, which are the places from where grey sellers mostly sourced these handsets in the past. The financial daily added that in the past, these grey sellers would command a premium as high as 50 per cent, making people shell out more than Rs 1 lakh in some cases for an iPhone.

As reported earlier, Apple has updated its marketing and sales strategy to make an impact in India, the world’s third-largest mobile phone market after China and the US.

ALSO READ: iPhone X: Apple makes a $999 gamble on its aspirational brand

The iPhones shipment used to reach Indian shores after a huge time gap and the actual sales of devices used to start even later. This time, the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will launch in India just a week after the US launch. The premium iPhone X will be rolled out in India along with the international rollout.

The new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will go on sale starting September 29 at 6 PM, unlike the previous iPhone launches that used to go on sale at midnight in India. Apart from online sales through e-commerce platforms, the new iPhones will be available for purchase through offline retail stores and the sale will commence at the same time through online and offline channels.