“According to Chinese language publication Sina Tech, the gold iPhone 5s appears to be one the most popular models in the country’s capital city, with first day stock running out at the Sanlitun, Xidan Joy City, and Wangfujing Apple Stores just two hours after reservations went live on Tuesday, local Beijing time,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider. “Apple’s pick-up reservation system was first instituted with the iPhone 4S to control crowds and dissuade gray market sales of newly launched products.”
Read more in the full article here.
Joe White reports for AppAdvice, “Only the 16GB ‘space gray’ unlocked iPhone 5s remains for reservation at both Beijing and Hong Kong Apple Retail Stores. In Beijing, the gold iPhone 5s handset entirely sold out at the Sanlitun, Xidan Joy City, and Wangfujing Apple Stores just two hours after Apple’s aforementioned reservation system went live, the Chinese-language publication Sina Tech explains.”
“Apple’s iPhone 5c, however, hasn’t been so big a hit in China,” White reports. “Despite early analysis indicating that a ‘low-cost’ iPhone could do well in the country, it seems that the not-so-low cost of the iPhone 5c has encouraged Chinese customers to spend a little extra on the high-end iPhone 5s, instead.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As predicted:
It seems to me that Apple is using the iPhone 5c as a tool to push buyers to the 5s (well, at least those buyers who can grasp a simple value equation). Once Apple gets the customer to the websites or into the stores and the prospective buyer can see and/or hold both phones and learn that they’re only separated by a mere $100, my guess is that Apple figures they’ll have plenty of upsales occurring. Upsales that will boost Apple’s iPhone margins nicely. Oh, BTW, Apple’s going to sell a boatload of both models (and millions of 4S units too)! Are you listening, margin-loving Wall Street? – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, September 10, 2013
