iPhone 5S Expected To Launch In UAE By Year-End

Apple’s eagerly anticipated iPhone 5S, unveiled on Tuesday, is expected to make its official UAE debut in November or December, according to retailers.

“We don’t have specific dates on the UAE launch just yet but typically the UAE has not been a Wave 1 market for Apple,” said Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky’s Group.

“We’re hoping it moves into being a Wave 2 market, as we’ve normally seen the products here in Wave 3. That means the product should officially be here – we estimate – somewhere in November or December, provided Apple doesn’t spring a surprise and say its expanded its reach in Waves 1 and 2,” he said.

“We saw Samsung recently announce the Galaxy Note 3 will be available in 149 countries on September 25th, so we’re hoping Apple moves towards this wider supply strategy going forward,” he added.

Loyal Apple fans in the UAE and around the world have been eagerly counting down to the September 10 launch and, as with every new iPhone release, the US tech company has maintained its secrecy regarding details of the new device.

Typically, the internet has been awash with rumours which suggest that the iPhone 5S will include a biometric fingerprint scanner and come in a range of colours. The latest device is also expected to be accompanied by a new cheaper iPhone 5C.

“In many newer markets, Apple is rumoured to be going for a two-phone approach where they realise they’ve got to do a lot more work to win over customers,” said Panjabi.

“Apart from just a new product, it means adopting a different go-to-market strategy, whether that means selling through non-telecom operator channels, or using van sales to penetrate those markets.”

The UAE has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world, and even ranks first globally in smartphone penetration with 73.8 per cent of mobile consumers carrying smartphones, according to Google.

“In the UAE, I expect the next generation of iPhone to do well just because we have a population that expects the newest products,” explained Panjabi.

“We’ve traditionally seen very high smartphone penetration and it’s not uncommon to see people with two smartphones. The chances that one of these is an Apple device is fairly high and given that there is still a lot of iPhone 4S devices in the UAE, I expect that a lot of people would be in the market to upgrade their iPhone especially since the iPhone 4S is now about two years old.”

However, Panjabi advised eager Apple fans to wait until the official launch of the product and avoid buying the phone from the grey market.

“Prices will be high in the grey market initially and if the official launch is within two or three months, we recommend waiting because it is not worth paying more than double the price to get the product earlier.

“There is also no warranty generally on the grey market goods and they may not always be compatible with the LTE networks in the UAE, which many consumers who bought the iPhone 5 from the grey market found out the hard way,” he said.

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