iPhone 12 launches in China to strong demand despite stiff competition for Apple in 5G smartphones
- The iPhone 12 is Apple’s first 5G phone, but demand remains strong in China, where much cheaper 5G options are available
- Global pre-orders for the iPhone 12 were at least twice as high in the first 24 hours compared with the iPhone 11 last year
When Apple’s new iPhone 12 series smartphones went on sale worldwide on Friday, many people in China were already standing ready. Even by lunchtime, a line snaked outside Apple’s flagship shop in Beijing, located at an upscale shopping centre in Sanlitun. It is a testament to the continuing power Apple has to draw in Chinese consumers even as tensions with the US have intensified.
One man standing outside the store with an Apple bag had already bought several iPhone 12s and was reselling them for a steep mark-up. He said the store had been crowded since 8am.
“Most of them [waiting in the early morning] were people who had reservations for the new phones,” said the shopper, who declined to give his name. “It’s very popular and people need to pay an extra 1,000 yuan to get the phones from me.”
The new iPhones have also proven to be a hot commodity on Chinese e-commerce sites. The available stock on JD.com sold out within 30 seconds after pre-orders started on October 16. And Alibaba, the parent company of the South China Morning Post, said that about 30 million users have searched for the new iPhones over the last 30 days on its Tmall marketplace. That is twice the search volume for the iPhone 11 in the same period last year.
But many people in Beijing were still compelled to weather the chill fall air and head out to the Apple store in person.