iPhone 18 Pro Draws Long Queues in India; Analysts Split on Demand

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max became available for sale in India on 18 September, with overnight lines outside stores being reported in Delhi, Noida and Mumbai. The Pro starts at ₹1,64,900 for 256GB, about ₹30,000 above last year. Analysts overseas have concluded differently about these pre-order times: GF Securities deemed them lukewarm, while Bank of America and JPMorgan saw a shorter wait than last year. The shipping estimates are a very simplistic measure since Apple does not report unit sales.

The long queue outside the stores in Delhi, Noida and Mumbai has begun since the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max were launched in the country on Friday. The six Apple stores opened sales simultaneously at 8 a.m. and the phones also sold via Apple's online store as well as authorised retailers and in some cities quick commerce platform Zepto and Blinkit.

Ajay, a customer from Delhi, who is an iPhone 17 Pro user, said that he had pre-booked the 1TB iPhone 18 Pro Max and was looking for the new features. A buyer from Punjab, who had come to Noida for the purchase, told ANI that he had joined the queue around 6 a.m. and he purchased two Pro Max units. A customer at the Saket shop, who claimed to have waited for 15-20 days, stated that the excitement of purchasing it on the first day was “entirely different”.

Prices and availability

The iPhone 18 Pro is priced at ₹1,64,900 for the 256GB variant and the Pro Max at ₹1,79,900 with a maximum storage of 2TB; the highest storage configuration of Pro Max ranges in price of ₹3,29,900.

According to GSMArena, the price of last year's models has increased by ₹30,000 in India, compared to $100 in the U.S. and £100 in Britain. Cult of Mac blamed the rise in memory-chip prices for the increase in US prices. In India, iPhones are on sale, with massive lines forming outside Apple stores, adding to Outlook Money's coverage.

Pre-orders for the first wave of 65 markets, which includes India, went online from September 12, and 20 more countries will be added to the list from September 25. This season, Apple did not release its basic iPhone 18. The first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, is opening up for pre-order on October 16 and will be available in stores on October 23.

Read the data from the pre-order

Overseas analysts have not reached consensus on the meaning of waiting times. Jeff Pu, GF Securities, said the early wait time was lukewarm, and he lowered his production guidance for the Pro version to 72mn units.

He attributed the less robust demand to specification enhancements but minor price increases, and supply constraints related to the new variable-aperture camera.

Pre-order wait times are “lukewarm,” says Jeff Pu, GF Securities analyst

As of September 14, the wait for the iPhone 18 Pro is 14 days, while the wait for the iPhone 17 Pro is 18 days, according to Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan and colleagues. For the Pro Max it was 18 days to 25.

For the Pro and Pro Max, the team at JPMorgan found that it takes 7 days to deliver to a customer by home, compared to 15 days for the iPhone 17 models. However, average waits have reached 2.6 weeks in eight countries three days into pre-orders, which is an indication of good early demand, according to Gene Munster. TheStreet is picking up on a surprising iPhone 18 pre-order trend in the financial world.

The measure is capped. Shipping estimates don't only account for demand; they also take into account supply as well, and Apple has long ago abandoned reporting on unit sales, even in their earnings announcements, according to 9to5Mac. By September 14, estimates for Pro Max delivery in the United States had shifted to October 6-13.

What the queues represent

Six stores have queues of people interested in a premium product on the day it is launched. They are not a reflection of sales of any particular unit, as Apple rarely releases sales data, so there are only indirect indications of the queues and shipping estimates. The iPhone still accounts for about half of Apple's sales, TheStreet noted. Some Pro Max fans will migrate to the iPhone Duo, too, says Pu.

The subsequent data points will be the Duo pre-orders on October 16, and the September 25 expansion. But until Apple or market trackers release numbers, there's a series of queues, wait times and estimates that go in all directions.