It’s now widely understood that Apple will launch its two new iPhones, the 5S and 5C, into territories such as South Africa, Qatar and Brazil on 15 November, said Appadvice (Apple is yet to confirm). The site sources its information from an internal email which states that telecoms Sprint and Global will allow customers in the Philippines to “register their interest” for a 5C or 5S for the expected launch date.
No ad to show here.
Here’s the full list of countries where the new iPhones are expected to appear:
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, South Africa, and Venezuela.
Since nothing is official yet, it’s also expected that Apple will add a few more countries to the list. For reference purposes, the iPhone 5 launched in South Africa on 14 December 2012, two months after the US launch date of 21 September. There were a total of seven launches staggered over two months, and countries such as South Africa, Brazil and the Bahamas were part of the sixth launch cycle. So for anyone not located in any of these rumoured countries, Apple may still plan to include your territory during the final launch phase.
Despite the staggered launch cycle, Apple is still selling its latest iPhones like the proverbial hotcake. After only a month of being on sale, the 5S and 5C now account for 5.5% of all iPhone sales globally, said iPhonehacks. The iPhone 5 remains the most popular iDevice with a 39.8% share, then followed by the iPhone 4S (32.9%) and finally the iPhone 4 (20.2%). It goes to show that as every new iPhone makes an appearance, the older models become predictably less desirable. We fully expect both iPhones to make a dent in the high end markets when every country can get its hands on them.
As soon as Apple gets all official with these countries, you’ll be the first to know.
