Vietnamese people lined up in the rain to wait for the iPhone 15 to go on sale.

On September 22nd, the iPhone 15 series went on sale in several priority markets, including Thailand and Singapore, two Tier 1 markets closest to Vietnam. Previously, Singapore was a familiar destination for Vietnamese iPhone importers, and last year Thailand joined the launch on the same day as Singapore, the US, Japan, Hong Kong, and others. In the days leading up to the launch, long lines of people often formed outside Apple Stores eager to be among the first to purchase the device the following morning.

A group of Vietnamese people were present at the Apple Store in Iconsiam (Thailand) on the evening of September 21st.

However, Apple is increasingly cracking down on sales timing to curb the practice of resellers hoarding goods while those with genuine needs cannot obtain the devices or are forced to pay more. In 2022, many people faced difficulties in Singapore when store employees and security dispersed crowds gathered outside the Apple Store and only allowed them to return early the next morning.

This year, the situation has eased for various reasons, although on September 21st, many groups of Vietnamese customers traveled to Thailand and Singapore to prepare for the iPhone 15 launch. According to a survey by Thanh Nien newspaper in Thailand, where both Apple Stores are located in Bangkok, the store in Iconsiam shopping mall was less crowded, with no long queues. Many groups of Vietnamese people were present at different times of the day, and some said the store had issued queue numbers to those who had successfully placed orders on the Apple Thailand website since the afternoon of September 21st.

Apple Store at Iconsiam shopping mall (Thailand) on the evening of September 21st.

Tuan Anh (Cau Giay, Hanoi ) said he arrived in Thailand in the morning and quickly made his way to Iconsiam Center. However, upon arriving at the store and checking his online order placed in Vietnam, he discovered that the payment process for the iPhone 15 Pro Max had failed. "The store manager said they had to call online support to resolve the issue, but I decided to cancel the order and come back tomorrow to buy it in person, hoping for some luck," Tuan Anh shared.

The manager also confirmed that they could not provide any further assistance or guarantee availability for customers who had not pre-ordered. This is a situation that occurred in 2022 when Thailand first launched the iPhone 14 series early; Apple Stores only allowed pre-ordered customers to pick up their devices and did not sell to walk-in customers until later that day.

Apple Store employees at the World Center in Thailand prepare for the launch of the iPhone 15 series.

At the Apple Store in the World Center shopping mall (Thailand), a group of people were still waiting outside despite the late hour and heavy rain that had been falling since the afternoon. Most of them were from Vietnam. However, similar to Iconsiam, the number of people buying and selling imported iPhones wasn't large; instead, they were mostly users eager to own the device early, or groups of technology reviewers who came to film videos and report on the launch event, as well as get hands-on with the product for their online community.

People braved the rain to wait for the iPhone launch at the World Center shopping mall in Thailand on the night of September 21st.

In Singapore, long lines of people still waited in front of the Apple Store on Orchard Road. Security had to put up barriers and signs marking the queuing points in both English and Vietnamese, although the number was much smaller than in previous years. Minh Thanh, a young Vietnamese man present, said that the store had given out wristbands to early arrivals, and only those with wristbands were allowed to queue in front of the store.

However, having a wristband doesn't guarantee a device, as it depends on the store's inventory. If it's their turn to buy but the desired product is out of stock, they still have to leave empty-handed. "Some people are reselling these wristbands for 500-600 SGD (Singapore dollars, approximately 11 million VND)," Thanh added. But no one dares to buy them because the wristbands don't guarantee availability.

Wristbands for those queuing to buy the iPhone 15 in Singapore.

According to someone who had spent many years queuing in Singapore, in previous sales events, each store would hire extra people to stand in front of Apple Stores to buy as many devices as possible to bring back to Vietnam on the first day. At that time, the launch date in Singapore was far from Vietnam, so imported iPhones were still in high demand, making the business highly profitable.

"In the last two years, it's been shortened to 3 weeks (in 2022) and now it's only 1 week (in 2023), so the risk of loss is very high if you can't sell it on the first day. Therefore, this year I decided not to invest in this method anymore," this person shared. This year, he was in Thailand just to buy an iPhone 15 Pro Max early for personal use and to see what the atmosphere is like there compared to previous years.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/nguoi-viet-xep-hang-cho-iphone-15-mo-ban-trong-mua-185230921224710584.htm