Today is officially I-Day, or iPhone day – the date that Apple has set for the official launch for their iPhone 5 in the region, which includes our fair country, the Philippines. As expected, both Smart and Globe held their own midnight launches to commemorate the event, with Smart choosing the Newport Mall in Pasay as their main battleground while Ayala owned Globe held their launch gala at the newly renovated wing of the Glorietta Mall.
Like last year’s launch for the iPhone 4S, both telcos pulled out all the stops to make their launch events stand out from their competitors. Globe put on a heck of a show during their launch, and invited a number of celebrity endorsers and local bands to entertain the public. This was pretty much the same story with Smart, although the telco did manage to get American pop duo LMFAO to play at their venue. Smart also held simultaneous launches for the iPhone 5 in different parts of the country.
Both Globe and Smart has said that demand is overwhelming for the new device, with units literally flying off the shelves. Unfortunately until both telcos give hard numbers on how their signups did, it’s still unclear which telco managed to eek out a win in this next round of the iPhone wars.
If you’re still hankering for your own iPhone 5 plan, you can check out Globe’s pricing here and Smart’s pricing here.