An instant profit of up to HK$3,000 awaited shoppers who bought one of Apple’s new iPhones, which went on sale in Hong Kong on Friday morning.
The release of the iPhone 5 drew a crowd of nearly 100 speculators outside the company’s flagship store in Central. Customers who emerged with the new phones were offered between HK$7,000 and HK$8,500 for the 16GB model – which costs HK$5,588 in the store.
Some said the best prices were offered by parallel traders from the mainland, driven by the high demand for the gadget in China.
But some diehard Apple fans said they would pass up the easy profits and keep the new phone for their own use.
At the head of the queue outside Apple’s Central store on Friday morning was Brigitte Cheung, who bought two white, 16GB iPhone 5s and said she planned to keep both for her own use.
“It’s exciting that I am among the first group to get our hands on the gadget,” she said. “I’ve been using iPhones since they first hit the market.”