Reliance was reportedly overwhelmed by the number of people who tried to book the JioPhone last month, prompting it to end the pre-order process early. Now a new report suggests that it might have delayed deliveries of the handset all the way to October.
To be clear, Reliance has never communicated when exactly the JioPhone would be in the hands of consumers other than a vague September timeline. The consensus was that the company would kick off deliveries during Navratri. The festival begins from September 21 this year.
However, India Today claims that Reliance has pushed back availability to October 1. A Jio-authorized retailer told the publication that units were supposed to be sent out from September 24 but it’s been delayed. Others say they’ve gotten a message from the brand informing them that the delivery has been postponed to October.
Nobody seems to know why this deferment has come about. Not having enough units seems like the most probable answer given rumors that over 6 million people pre-booked the feature phone. This is in turn could be bad news for consumers who want to place an order for the device.
Reliance Jio hasn’t stated when pre-booking will start again. Vendors are of the opinion that it won’t happen anytime soon. It’s possible that pre-orders will go live once the first batch starts getting delivered in the hands of customers, indicating a mid-October date.
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You can register yourself for updates about the JioPhone here. Note that you’ll have to pay Rs 500 when pre-ordering and the remaining Rs 1000 when picking it up.