Fashion
Previous iPhone launches have seen long queues in the city, as traders snap up the latest model weeks or months before it is sold across the border. The iPhone 6S will be offered in both markets on September 25, but prices are likely to be 15 per cent lower here, and with limited supply and strong demand, resellers still hope to cash in.
ANZ senior economist Raymond Yeung said sales of the phone “will give an obvious short-term boost to retail sales and help top-line retail sales in September and October”.
Lo Lau, owner of a Mong Kok smartphone shop, expected the new phone – with official prices starting at HK$6,388 – to fetch HK$11,000 to HK$20,000 at resale. A street trader said he planned to charge a minimum of HK$12,000 for a 16GB iPhone 6S Plus, the cheapest of the new Apple range.
Demand for the iPhone has driven record profits for Apple in the past. Speaking at the unveiling of the new model, chief executive Tim Cook said the iPhone market in China had grown 75 per cent year-on-year, compared with 35 per cent globally.
China is Apple’s second-largest market after the Americas, bringing in US$13.2 billion in the latest quarter, up 112 per cent on the same period last year.
While ANZ’s Yeung thought the iPhone would have a positive effect on Hong Kong’s retail sector, he warned the overall outlook remained weak. A reduction in tourism and domestic consumption has dragged down sales, while a strong Hong Kong dollar, pegged to the US dollar, has reduced the spending power of overseas visitors, ANZ says.
At the Apple store in Causeway Bay yesterday, some shoppers who still formed long lines to buy the current generation of iPhones expressed excitement about the new model.
“I was using the [iPhone] 5, so I need to upgrade to the new one. At least my phone has some resell value, so I can go ahead and trade,” said Joseph Tsang Ka-ho, 40, who was visiting the store to learn more about the 6S.
But 26-year-old Terry Lam King-wai was less impressed.
“There’s not much difference between the old and the new iPhone 6S. The appearance is the same, but with a new colour,” he said. “I’ll probably wait for the next generation.”
