In India, the new iPhone can arrive faster than a pizza

在印度，新款 iPhone 的送达速度可能比披萨还快

For some iPhone buyers in India, getting Apple’s brand-new iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max did not require lining up outside a store or waiting days for delivery. They needed only a few taps on a quick-commerce app to get one delivered to their doorstep in about 10 minutes. 对于印度的一些 iPhone 买家来说，想要拿到苹果全新的 iPhone 18 Pro 或 iPhone 18 Pro Max，并不需要去门店排队，也不用等待数日的物流配送。他们只需在即时零售（quick-commerce）应用程序上轻点几下，大约 10 分钟内就能送到家门口。

Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy’s Instamart, and BigBasket — platforms best known in India for delivering groceries and everyday essentials in minutes — began offering the new Pro models as they went on sale in the country on Friday. The phones are, however, also available through Apple’s usual sales channels, including its stores, authorized retailers, and online marketplaces. Blinkit、Zepto、Swiggy 旗下的 Instamart 以及 BigBasket——这些以在几分钟内配送杂货和日常必需品而闻名的印度平台——在周五新款 Pro 机型于印度开售时，便开始提供配送服务。当然，这些手机也可以通过苹果的常规销售渠道购买，包括苹果门店、授权零售商和在线市场。

Putting a new iPhone on a 10-minute delivery app is not entirely new in India. Quick-commerce platforms have offered Apple’s latest devices on launch day previously as well, as they have steadily expanded beyond groceries into categories including electronics, beauty products, and fashion. 在印度，通过 10 分钟送达的应用程序购买新款 iPhone 并非新鲜事。即时零售平台此前也曾在苹果设备发布当天提供过销售服务，因为这些平台已逐渐从杂货业务扩展到电子产品、美妆和时尚等品类。

However, the market behind those deliveries is growing rapidly. India’s quick-commerce sector reached about $9 billion in the first half of 2026, per a recent report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, with the number of monthly users rising to more than 60 million from 8 million three years ago. Google and Deloitte separately estimate the market could reach $50 billion by 2030, with non-food products such as electronics, fashion, and beauty accounting for 45% of spending. 然而，支撑这些配送服务的市场正在迅速增长。根据 Redseer Strategy Consultants 最近的一份报告，印度即时零售行业在 2026 年上半年达到了约 90 亿美元的规模，月活跃用户数从三年前的 800 万激增至超过 6000 万。谷歌和德勤分别预测，到 2030 年该市场规模可能达到 500 亿美元，其中电子产品、时尚和美妆等非食品类产品将占总支出的 45%。

There were signs of strong demand on launch day. BigBasket said it delivered more than 300 iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max units in the first hour of sales. Instamart told TechCrunch that Bengaluru led the iPhone 18 Pro-series orders on its platform, followed by Delhi. The Burgundy 256 GB iPhone 18 Pro was Instamart’s most popular variant, accounting for nearly a third of its sales. 发布当天的需求表现强劲。BigBasket 表示，在开售的第一小时内，他们就配送了超过 300 台 iPhone 18 Pro 和 Pro Max。Instamart 向 TechCrunch 透露，班加罗尔是其平台上 iPhone 18 Pro 系列订单最多的城市，其次是德里。勃艮第红色的 256GB 版 iPhone 18 Pro 是 Instamart 最受欢迎的型号，占其销量的近三分之一。

Nonetheless, within hours of launch, availability of the new iPhones became patchy. TechCrunch found the iPhone 18 Pro models sold out on some quick-commerce platforms and in some locations, while they remained available for delivery elsewhere in cities including Delhi and Bengaluru. 尽管如此，在发布后的几个小时内，新款 iPhone 的供应情况开始变得不稳定。TechCrunch 发现，iPhone 18 Pro 机型在某些即时零售平台和部分地区已经售罄，但在德里和班加罗尔等城市的其他区域仍可下单配送。

Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, said the launch-day deliveries showed that quick commerce could work as a channel for premium smartphones in India’s biggest cities, even though volumes remain small compared with overall iPhone sales. The ability to fulfill high-value smartphone orders provides an “early proof of concept,” Pathak told TechCrunch. “The key question is whether this launch-driven demand can translate into regular smartphone purchases through quick-commerce platforms.” Counterpoint Research 研究总监 Tarun Pathak 表示，发布当天的配送表现证明，即时零售可以作为印度大城市高端智能手机的销售渠道，尽管与 iPhone 的整体销量相比，其出货量仍然较小。Pathak 对 TechCrunch 表示，能够完成高价值智能手机的订单提供了一个“早期的概念验证”。“关键问题在于，这种由发布会驱动的需求能否转化为通过即时零售平台进行的常规智能手机购买。”

Navkendar Singh, associate vice president at IDC, said India stood out globally for this kind of quick-commerce delivery and was particularly suited to such purchases because consumers in major cities had built trust in the platforms by using them regularly for everyday purchases. Official tie-ups between brands and the platforms also gave consumers greater confidence in buying expensive products through them, he told TechCrunch. IDC 副总裁 Navkendar Singh 表示，印度在全球范围内因这种即时零售配送模式而脱颖而出，并且特别适合此类购买行为，因为大城市的消费者通过日常高频使用，已经对这些平台建立了信任。他告诉 TechCrunch，品牌与平台之间的官方合作也让消费者在通过这些平台购买昂贵产品时更有信心。

For a product like the iPhone, the appeal also comes down to “instant gratification,” Singh said, allowing buyers to avoid queues outside stores or waiting several days for an online order to arrive. Still, he cautioned that quick commerce was not yet a significant sales channel for smartphones. Its role around new iPhone releases is largely a “launch-day marketing phenomenon” that “creates good noise around the launch,” he said. Singh 指出，对于 iPhone 这样的产品，其吸引力还在于“即时满足感”，让买家免去了在门店外排队或等待数日才能收到在线订单的麻烦。不过，他也提醒称，即时零售目前还不是智能手机的重要销售渠道。他认为，它在新款 iPhone 发布期间的角色主要是一种“发布日营销现象”，能够“为发布会制造良好的声势”。