No iPhone 8 bonanza for Hong Kong traders as resale prices stay low on launch day
Stores open early as new products go on sale, but queues are short compared to those in previous years
The launch of a new iPhone usually heralds big profits for resellers as they take advantage of surging demand for the luxury handsets. But it was a different story on Friday when the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus went on sale across the globe, with products being resold at or even below official retail prices due to low demand.
On Friday morning, about 20 customers stood in line to collect their pre-ordered products at the IFC outlet, a stark contrast with the long queues in previous years. Thousands of consumers lined up at Apple stores across Hong Kong when the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were launched last year.
The stores in Central and Causeway Bay opened their doors early at 8am and set up crowd control barriers at the entrance.
But the queues outside the Central outlet stretched only one-fifth the length of the barriers.
After collecting his purchases, Jason, 24, one of the early birds, immediately sold his two iPhone 8 Plus models, both with a capacity of 256 gigabytes, to a Russian trader.
