iPhone Launch in India ?

As the world (read US) gets ready for the launch of the iPhone, India waits in silence.

The crazy fever here has picked up pace and its now less than 48 hours to I-Day.

If you are in the US, then its a matter of camping outside your local At&T store or the Apple Store in your city. Kamla Bhatt has even put up a video of where to find the Apple Store in NYC incase you are a noobie here.

Surprisingly, the biggest cellphone launch in a while is absent from one of the biggest and fastest growing markets in the world. India is not on the radar at all.

The TOI contacted Apple India and this is what they say…

As for the Indian launch date, on contacting Apple India, all we received was silence.

The craze for the gadget is palpable. Lines are already forming outside stores here in NYC.

Infact, vicariousmusic.com claims the formation of lines as early as monday, a full 4 days before launch time.

The honour of being the first in line went to

Greg Packer, who showed up yesterday, June 25 at 5am EDT, and David Clayman front New York City’s Apple Store Fifth Avenue iPhone line, [link]

And there are even more pictures here, of them camping out.

So coming back to my point, I think it would have been a masterstroke for Apple to have launched the phone in India at the same time. It would have helped immensely in terms of news and public relations and helped make a dent in the Nokia-centric market. However, from all reports, all of Asia and India will have to wait till 2008 for it to be available. And even then, Apple will tie up with certain service providers and so you may have to go with that carrier, or just plain twiddle your thumbs and salivate.

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