Market tracker Counterpoint Research said based on early estimates, Day 1 sales of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus were 20% higher than last year, while they were about 25% higher for the Pro models.
Q-comm platforms such as BigBasket, Blinkit and Zepto entered into a delivery war for the iPhones in large cities, promising 10-minute deliveries, further pushing up sales.
BigBasket CEO Hari Menon said on X it had sold 372 iPhones in just 100 minutes. Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa wrote on X at 10:30 am: “We started delivering iPhones at 8 am, and we’re going to cross the 300-mark in a couple of minutes.” By noon, both the platforms were out of stock in New Delhi.
Palash Volvoikar, a user on X, said: “People are getting their iPhone 16 orders delivered from grocery apps in 10 minutes while our pre-orders (from ecommerce) haven’t even begun preparing to ship yet.” Apple started selling the iPhone 16 series in India on Friday, same as its other major markets such as the US, priced at Rs 79,900 to Rs 1.84 lakh.Fans queued up outside the two company-owned stores in Mumbai and New Delhi, with some getting in line during the early hours, ahead of sales starting at 8 am. Store officials said around 400-500 people queued up outside the Mumbai store despite heavy rains. In Delhi, the crowd was 200-300-strong by the time the store opened at 8 am. The queues continued till evening.
Interestingly, rival Samsung dropped the price of its flagship Galaxy S24 smartphone on Friday by Rs 15,000 to Rs 59,999. Both Apple and Samsung fiercely compete in the Rs 50,000-plus super premium smartphone market in India.
“India sells over 400,000 smartphones in a day. Today, over 30% of these would have been an iPhone,” said Faisal Kawoosa, chief analyst at TechArc.
Executives of six leading retail chains said there was ample supply of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus models, but they ran short of the Pro and Pro Max. An executive with a large chain in the South said out of 1,000 units it had billed, the chain received only 125 Pro and 35 Pro Max units.
Even the Apple online store showed a waiting period for Pro models of up to a month and no indication on when they can be picked up from the two company-owned stores. Retailers said over 60-70% of the pre-bookings were for these models.
Apple distributors have indicated fresh supplies will come next week but will not be sufficient for fulfilling all pre-bookings.
“We are told the supplies will improve in the first half of October when the made-in-India Pro models hit the market,” the chief of another leading retail chain.
The company didn’t respond to queries.
Apple is going to produce the top-end models in India for the first time, starting with the iPhone 16 Pro. The company has imported the Pro series models from China for the launch phase. It is, however, locally manufacturing most of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus models.
Manpreet Singh from Ludhiana, who owns mobile phone stores, reached Delhi on Thursday after pre-booking two iPhone 16 Pros. “Pro models are in short supply there, so we came to Delhi,” he said.
A customer from Surat who didn’t want to give his name had pre-booked seven iPhone 16 Pro and Plus models, hoping to sell them later at a premium. “I and five of my friends sat together when Apple’s pre-booking opened. Only one of us was lucky to get their hands on seven units,” the person said, adding that he already has pre-orders from customers and friends in Surat who have booked the phone at a 12-15% premium.
Dozens of buyers at the Mumbai store posed for pictures with several Apple shopping bags in each hand. The company has also launched new versions of the Watch and the AirPod.
“The Apple hype cycle continues for a few weeks before stocks start hitting the market,” said another reseller who had travelled from Ahmedabad to pick 10 devices. “If we get lucky, my shop gets a good name for having inventory before anyone else.”
By 11 am, Delhi store workers told people queuing outside that they were no longer taking reservations for new models, indicating that stocks were running out. Pro models were the fastest selling at the stores, and were out of stock by noon in Mumbai.
“The store is expecting to start walk-ins by next week provided it has enough inventory,” said an employee at the Apple store in Mumbai.
