Philippine carriers Smart and Globe have announced that they will launch the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on November 15, suggesting that Apple may be planning to roll out its new iPhones in a broader fourth wave of countries on that date. The news comes as Apple launched both new iPhones in the second wave of countries late last week and will also rollout the iPhone to 16 other countries this Friday, November 1.
AppAdvice also has a theory on the matter, giving a potential list of countries for the fourth wave of iPhone 5s and iPhone 5s launches based simply on other countries where the iPhone 5 launched on the same date as in the Philippines last year:
After looking back to the countries grouped with the Philippines for the sixth wave of last year’s iPhone 5 launch, and removing the territories which have (or will have) already received the new smartphones, we’re expecting Apple to bring its iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to some or all of the following countries on Nov. 15:
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.
After its November 1 rollout, Apple will have brought the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c to a total of over 60 countries, which will move the company closer to its stated target of avaliability in 100 countries before the end of the year.
Overall, supplies of the iPhone 5s remain constrained, with shipping times in the United States and a number of other countries still at two to three weeks. Supplies of the iPhone 5c, however, remain plentiful with estimated shipping times of 24 hours.
Update: Several Israeli carriers have announced that they will be launching the new iPhones on November 3.
