Etisalat on Thursday confirmed that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are available at Dh0 down payment starting Saturday September 27 in UAE.
“The iPhone 6 will be available starting at Dh0 upfront for the 16GB model and iPhone 6 Plus will be available starting at Dh0 upfront for the 16GB model,” Etisalat said in a statement.
Interested in a features-loaded smartphone but at a fraction of the cost? Read: Gitex Shopper: Low-end smartphone brands flood UAE market
Emirates 24|7 had anticipated the ‘free’ offers from both Etisalat and Du a day after the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were globally launched by Apple Inc. on September 9, 2014.
Read: Etisalat to offer iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus on Sept 26; for free?
Dubai-based du, the other UAE telecom services operator, had then told this website that it would “continue to be the first to launch any new smartphones in the UAE”.
In comments to Emirates 24|7, a spokesperson of the operator said: “We understand the nature of the local market and its eagerness to be early adopters of newest global technologies.
“Therefore, we assure our customers that we will continue to be the first to launch any new smartphones in the UAE after evaluating the level of interest. The launch will assure that early adopters will have a chance to be the first to purchase the devices.”
True to their words, UAE telecom operators have begun retailing the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, but they are charging a Dh150 premium against the price that customers will have to pay at the online Apple Store in the UAE.
The official Apple Store in the UAE has started taking orders as of this morning (September 27). Apple is pricing the iPhone 6 starting Dh2,599 and iPhone 6 Plus starting at Dh2,999 in the UAE, while Etisalat and du are retailing the devices starting Dh2,749 and Dh3,149, respectively.
The Apple store, however, will take 5-7 business days to deliver the iPhone 6 and the waiting period for customers goes up to between 3 and 4 weeks for the iPhone 6 Plus.
Which is why the UAE's telecom operators - and other physical delivery stores where the devices are available right away - are witnessing brisk sales of the new Apple devices.
Apple had, on September 9, unveiled two new iPhones, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, along with a much-awaited Apple Watch in an event in Cupertino.
Both of the UAE’s telecom providers, Etisalat and du, have in the recent past offered new unlocked, SIM-free devices for free as part of multi-year packages to their customers, and customers are eagerly awaiting the same deals on the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus this time around too.
Even as the Apple devices are being officially made available in the UAE within two weeks of their global availability, there have been reports of a surging grey market that has seen the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus go for almost double the Apple-suggested retail prices in the country.