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Chinese among iPhone 6 buyers
BUYERS from China, deprived of the latest iPhone launch at home, were yesterday among the first in line in Japan to grab the “6” and its new large-screen cousin as Apple hit back at rivals.
Licensing issues in China meant the global rollout went ahead without the huge and lucrative market, in a blow to Apple which had trumpeted its inclusion in the initial wave of the last iPhone launch. Outside Tokyo’s flagship Apple store in glitzy Ginza, dozens of Chinese were among those waiting.
“I’m queuing because it’s not sold in China yet,” said Chen Manyan, a 21-year-old tourist from Fujian Province, adding: “It’s expensive, though.”
Zou Zhiyang, 29, a Chinese student studying in Tokyo, said he intended to buy the maximum two handsets allowed.
“I’ll buy one for myself, and another to sell to one of my friends in China,” he said.
On the eve of the launch, Beijing said Apple had won two necessary approvals, one to certify the phone for the Chinese market and another for wireless devices.
“But iPhone 6 still needs to obtain a key network access licence before it can enter the Chinese mainland market,” Xinhua news agency said.
The delay has created a lucrative secondary market, especially in Hong Kong, where dealers pay over the retail price expecting to get even more in turn from mainland buyers.
“If we are talking about the 128 gigabyte version we would buy it for as much as HK$18,000 (US$2,322),” said Gary Yiu, the manager of the iGeneration reseller store. That is more than double the price of the top-of-the-range iPhone 6 Plus.
Most sought
“I have around 200 pre-orders with 60 to 70 percent of these from Chinese mainland customers,” Yiu said, adding he had sent 10 staff members to buy as many as possible.
Yiu said the golden version of the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus was the most sought after, and he could resell it for more than HK$20,000. “There will be very little stock for this model, so a lot of people will be going for it,” he said.
Dozens of resellers outside Hong Kong’s Apple stores handed over thick wads of cash to people selling their handsets. “We have all the models here,” one person said, carrying more than a dozen bags carrying the phones.
The booming reseller market “means Apple products are still in high demand in China... their products are still highly accepted there”, Hong Kong-based market analyst Jackson Wong said.
“IPhone 6 or 6 Plus are not hugely innovative in a sense but demand is still very high, that means the loyalty for Apple products is still very high,” Wong said.
In Sydney, where the phone first hit shelves, some buyers had also traveled a long way.
South Korean Kim Jin-sik spent days in front of the store before the doors opened, revealing scores of Apple employees in blue T-shirts.
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