New iPhones to be launched in China on October 10: Reports

Workers at Foxconn's Zhengzhou branch in China, where the majority of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets are mass manufactured, are likely to be working day and night as the launch date of the new smartphones on the Chinese mainland is set for October 10.

Apple has demanded that the manufacturer prepare as many as 6.5 million sets of its new phones by October 8, ahead of its official launch on the Chinese mainland, in a bid to meet the huge demands from its largest overseas market, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily.

However, market sources also indicated that 6 million of the handsets launched on the Chinese mainland will be the iPhone 6, and 500,000 the iPhone 6 Plus, suggesting a serious shortage supply of the bigger new iPhone in the market.

The latest reselling prices of new iPhones in Hong Kong show that resellers are able to bag profits ranging from HK$12 to HK$912 ($1.50 to $117), depending on the colours and models, while the iPhone 6 Plus can be resold for HK$812 to HK$3,412 ($105 to $440) above retail value.

Apple has yet to announce the third batch of markets where it will launch its new iPhones. Last week, Miao Wei, the chief of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told Tencent that the iPhone 6 has entered the final stage of the approval process on the Chinese mainland.

"Now it's just a matter of time," said Miao.

Several mainland reports said the new iPhones will be ready for launch on October 10, as Apple has been busy preparing for staff training, citing some Apple Store employees.

The Taiwan-based Economic Daily also said that official retail prices of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will start from 5,288 yuan ($861) and 6,288 yuan ($1,023) on the Chinese mainland, respectively, for the lowest 16G model.