With the launch of the iPhone 6, Apple is stepping up its game for how fast it is rolling out the product internationally to compete more sharply against the Samsungs of the world. Apple has announced that it will be adding 36 more countries and territories in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa “by the end of October,” taking the total to 69. The aim is to have the new models, the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 and 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus, in 115 markets by the end of this year. This makes it the fastest iPhone rollout ever, the company says.
The speed of the rollout up to now has also helped fuel record sales for the product. As we mentioned at the time of the first retail sales, lines were looking longer than ever before. In all, the opening weekend of iPhone 6 sales saw sales of 10 million devices — a record amount for the company after it sold 9 million when it debuted the iPhone 5S and 5c models in stores.
The timeline for the rollouts is as follows:
• Friday, October 17: China, India and Monaco
• Thursday, October 23: Israel
• Friday, October 24: Czech Republic, French West Indies, Greenland, Malta, Poland, Reunion Island and South Africa
• Thursday, October 30: Bahrain and Kuwait
• Friday, October 31: Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Iceland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macau, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, South Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Thailand
Compare the speed of this rollout to Apple’s first-ever iPhone launch in 2007, where it took months for Apple to open sales up outside of the U.S. and AT&T as the exclusive carrier. European countries started to sell the devices in November 2007.
Apple has come a very long way since then. That first model had sales of only 1.4 million devices in the weeks between the end of June and November 2007. These days, not only is Apple facing a more heated wave of competition from the likes of Android phone makers like Samsung, the world’s largest handset maker, but now Apple has a far better grip on its supply and distribution chains.
Today, Apple is already selling the device in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the UK, the US and the US Virgin Islands.