Apple Watch arrives in Hong Kong without the sales frenzy
Hong Kong's first Apple Watch owners strapped on their new gadgets for the first time - but launch day proved a low-key affair, in stark contrast to the frenzy of queueing, buying and reselling every time a new iPhone comes out.
Hong Kong's first Apple Watch owners strapped on their new gadgets for the first time yesterday - but launch day proved a low-key affair, in stark contrast to the frenzy of queueing, buying and reselling every time a new iPhone comes out.
People who preordered the watches online received them by mail, while Apple's three retail stores in the city only had display models and no stock to sell. Mainland customers also got watches yesterday, as well as buyers in Japan, Australia, the United States and parts of Europe.
When the iPhone 6 launched in September, traders could instantly cash in, selling for HK$13,000 a 16GB model that cost HK$6,000 in the shops. Many buyers were from the mainland, where the phone was released a month later.
Watch buyers looking to cash in could turn a much less impressive profit yesterday. Stores at Mong Kok technology hub Sin Tat Plaza offered between HK$800 and HK$1,500 more than the official price - which ranged from HK$2,728 to HK$4,688.
"Supply is scarce because Apple Stores do not have the watches yet," said Lo Lau Chi-kwong, of G World Mobile. "We got several dozen watches and they are sold out already."
Business was not particularly brisk at the Causeway Bay Apple Store yesterday, but the watches did draw the curious. Half the shoppers were there to try on the watches, staff said.
