Attractive decorations, entertaining music, cheering crowd, well-lit stores and the new iPhones. This was the sight witnessed late on Thursday night at Apple authorized stores where fans lined up outside to purchase the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in India.
Apple has a remarkable fan base across the world and iPhones play a major role in that. Every year, new iPhone releases are perceived with great importance. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus did not miss to bring similar excitement among its fans in India, which saw its release four weeks after the launch in the U.S. and a dozen of other countries.
Welcoming the new iPhones, all authorized Apple stores, including Imagine, iPlanet, iAstra and other local mobile dealerships made a point to keep the stores open late in the night. At 12am, all stores across the country opened sales for the new iPhones with grand celebrations.
At iAstra, one of the eight authorized Apple stores across Bengaluru that was opened just 15 days ago, started sales Thursday midnight. The first customer to purchase the iPhone 6s at the store was Siddarth Surana, who shared his excitement with IBTimes as he unboxed his first iPhone.
"It feels really special to be the first customer to buy the new iPhone after waiting for it ever since it was launched in the U.S.," said Siddarth, who is eager to explore the new iPhone experience.
Meanwhile, in another mobile store located just opposite to iAstra in south-eastern part of Bengaluru, the store's first iPhone 6s Plus customer aged in late 30s dropped his new iPhone while unboxing. Luckily, the handset was not damaged as it fell just on the table. A similar incident had taken place in Perth last year, when an excited iPhone 6 buyer dropped his new iPhone live on TV.
Following the first customers, the new iPhones were purchased in order by other customers in the line. Despite the hefty pricing, customers showed keen interest in the new iPhone 6s series.
Another customer who identified himself as Mohammed, said that the new iPhones do not bring as much excitement as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Even so, he picked up an iPhone 6s Plus to experience the bigger screen after using an iPhone 6 for almost eight months.
Speaking to Apple-authorised iPlanet's store manager, Abhishek.D, who was preparing for a busy day for iPhone sales on Friday, said the midnight sale reception was really great. The store, which is located in the heart of the city, refused to share the count of units sold in its opening midnight sale but stressed the numbers were looking good.
While this was the status of iPhone 6s launch in Bengaluru, other cities likely witnessed similar responses. Apple has already confirmed that it sold more than 13 million iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus smartphones during its opening weekend sale, topping its own 10 million sales record set with the launch of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus last year.
"Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple's history," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a statement. "Customers' feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos."
