These new Apple iPhones are already sold out in China on launch day
The new Apple iPhones seem to be a hit in its most important foreign market—China. At least some of them.
After the tech giant released its three new iPhones on Thursday,
some models have already sold out and customers need to wait for a few weeks for them or buy them from individual sellers at a markup.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/new-...old-out-in-china-on-launch-day-204443415.html
No crowds as Apple's iPhone 11 hits stores in China
People queue outside an Apple store as the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max go on sale, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, Sep 20, 2019. (Photo: Reuters)
20 Sep 2019 06:45PM
(Updated: 20 Sep 2019 06:57PM)
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SHANGHAI: Apple's latest iPhone 11 range hit stores in China on Friday (Sep 20), with short queues of die-hard fans contrasting with the hundreds who camped out ahead of some previous launches.
The sales performance of the US tech giant's latest line-up is being closely watched in the world's largest smartphone market, where Apple has been losing ground to competitors with cheaper and feature-packed handsets in recent years.
The queues at the Shanghai and Beijing stores, which combined added up to few dozen customers, were in sharp contrast to previous years, when hundreds used to wait for hours outside Apple's shops to be the first to grab its latest offerings.
But much of the fanfare in China has moved online where the pre-sales for iPhone 11, priced between US$699 and US$1,099, started last week.
WATCH: iPhone 11 Pro Max hands-on: Slowfie, ultra-wide lens, bright display
Analysts said they had gotten off to a better start than the last cycle a year ago. Chinese e-commerce site JD.com said day one pre-sales for the iPhone 11 series were up 480 per cent versus comparable sales for the iPhone XR last year.
Among customers that took to a store in Beijing on Friday to make a purchase in person was a programer who only gave his surname as Liu, who said he had a model from every Apple series since the 3G range.
He said he was particularly attracted to the more expensive iPhone 11 Pro, which has three cameras on the back. "When it comes to taking photos, it's better for night shots and the image is clearer," he told Reuters.
Other customers, however, said that they were concerned that the range was not enabled for fifth-generation networks, putting them behind 5G models already released by China's Huawei Technologies and smaller rival Vivo, and expressed hopes that Apple could make it happen for its next line-up.
"I think by the end of next year, especially in big cities like Beijing, 5G will be commonplace," said civil servant Liu Liu. "If they don't research this then they'll lag way behind."