“Yes, it’s available, without bill. 90,000 rupees, cash. Get it hand to hand. Yes, it’s the latest model, kal hi to aaya hai.” Meet, a smartphone dealer in Delhi’s Ghaffar Market – a large and popular grey market for all things electronics – is confidently taking orders for Apple’s latest launch, the iPhone 6S. This was just a day after iPhone launched the 6S, along with a new range of iPads and Apple TV devices.
The Apple launch event happened in San Francisco on September 9, 2015. The new iPhones will reportedly land in India during the first week of October this year. But shopkeepers in Ghaffar Market claim to provide a brand new iPhone 6S immediately, on payment of hard cash.
The Hunt for the iPhone on a Spy-phone
There will be no guarantee, or warranty associated with the products though. If you encounter an error, or even if you get an iPhone 6 packaged under an iPhone 6S branding, there’s nobody you can complain to. That’s how grey markets work. You are responsible for your purchases.
The spy camera footage, recorded on September 11, 2015, as an investigation by The Quint, also captures sellers promising to hand over the new iPhone in ‘black’, within hours of the launch in the United States. To verify the claims and understand the peddling of iPhones before the official release, we were in touch with a few sources who promised to deliver the iPhone 6S on September 21. But, expectedly, no iPhone 6S arrived.
Date With the Forbidden Fruit
Relax! Let the Apple fan-boys protest as much as they want, it’s just a phone. We’re sure you can survive a few more days without the new iPhone. You’ve been doing just fine till now.
With the iPhone releasing officially in most countries across the globe on September 25, the local grey market might soon see these ‘imported’ iPhones coming in from the usual territories, such as China, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Amid reports of people shelling out over a lakh as premium to selling their kidneys to get the new iPhone before anybody else, this is how the desi market has been reacting to the hype.
Better Late than Sorry
As a happy conclusion, we can say that there’s nothing for Tim Cook to be worried about. The iPhones haven’t been leaked and they have managed to keep up the hype pretty well. And with the official Indian release within a few weeks, it makes much more sense to go for a product which would come with a lesser price-tag, warranty, and more importantly, peace of mind.
Hang in there for now!
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)