On September 21, many Vietnamese people began to move to Singapore and Thailand to wait for the early launch of the iPhone 15. These are two rare markets in Southeast Asia and near Vietnam that opened the iPhone 15 in the first phase, at the same time as the US, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Previously, Australia and New Zealand were the first two countries in the world to open the sale due to time zone differences.
However, the weather in Singapore as well as Thailand started to rain heavily from the afternoon until night. This caused difficulties for those who chose to queue at the Apple Store in the World Center shopping mall (Thailand) or the store on Orchard Road (Singapore).
At these two locations, from the afternoon and evening, the number of people lining up to buy iPhone 15 the next day gradually increased, even though they had to find a place to shelter from the rain. Most of them were Vietnamese, many of whom came because they wanted to own the device early, while the number of people trading in hand-carried goods decreased compared to previous years.
Heavy rain in Thailand lasted from morning until late at night.
In Singapore, the queue for the iPhone 15 was even tougher this year. Last year, security guards and store staff dispersed the crowd the night before the launch, allowing only a small number to wait. This year, the Apple Store on Orchard Road and many lower-tier resellers and authorized stores handed out wristbands to early arrivals.
" Only those with this bracelet can queue to buy the machine, so there are some people selling the bracelet for 500 to 700 SGD, about 12 million VND. But no one dares to buy because having the bracelet only allows them to queue but does not guarantee that they will be able to buy the machine.
The number of devices sold depends on the number of stores. If you have a bracelet but when it's your turn to buy, the store runs out of the device you want, you'll have to go home empty-handed, so no one dares to spend a large amount of money just to buy a bracelet to queue ," a Vietnamese person at an Apple Store in Singapore confirmed.
Hand-carried goods have also lost their popularity in the past two years as the official sales period in Vietnam has shortened compared to international markets, and the prices of the devices have also become cheaper.
Ms. Phan Ai Chau, representative of the Mobile World system, commented: " Vietnam opened the sale of iPhone 15 just 1 week after the Tier 1 group, plus the difficult economic situation, so the demand for buying hand-carried goods to own early is no longer as high as in previous years. On the contrary, the 'heat' in the country increased when dealers recorded a record number of registrations to receive information about the iPhone 15 series ". This system alone recorded more than 15,000 registrations before the opening sale, of which the number of customers interested in the iPhone 15 Pro Max accounted for 80%.
Heavy rain makes it difficult for people waiting to buy iPhone 15.
Currently, customers are increasingly interested in genuine iPhone products distributed in Vietnam (with code VN/A) for convenience in use and warranty. In addition, the domestic price of iPhone 15 is also quite competitive and is expected to fluctuate.
" This year, we have launched the message 'I'm Titanium', not accepting widespread orders but limiting the quantity according to the source of goods allocated by Apple to ensure that those who have ordered will receive the device immediately during the early sale on September 29. Avoid the situation like previous years, customers have to wait too long even though they have ordered in advance ," Ms. Ai Chau emphasized.
According to a person who has been queuing for many years to buy iPhones imported from Singapore to sell early in Vietnam, this year the number of traders has decreased because the opening time between Singapore and Thailand compared to Vietnam has been reduced to only one week. Business people have determined that if they do not sell out within the first two days of availability, they will suffer losses.
" A week is too short a time so many people are willing to wait, not to mention that now Vietnam has an online Apple Store, the price is not much different from hand-carried goods so it will be very difficult to sell ," this person revealed.
Khanh Linh
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