White iPhone temporarily sells out in Beijing, Hong Kong
updated 05:15 pm EDT, Thu April 28, 2011
Color option only on market for one day
The white iPhone 4 has already sold out in the Chinese cities of Beijing and Hong Kong, reports say. The Beijing information comes from Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, who cites checks with Asian industry sources. ElegentTech claims that the phone sold out even faster in Hong Kong, going out of stock in the space of an hour thanks to lineups which formed at midnight the previous day.
Many of the people buying iPhones may not be planning to hold onto them, however. Chinese retail stores are often the target of gray marketers, who will use one or several people to swoop in, buy as many iPhones as possible and leave regular shoppers empty-handed. Resale phones can carry a high markup, potentially costing several hundred dollars more than Apple's official prices.
White iPhone 4s have only been on sale for about a day in China, and less than that in places like Europe and North America. Globally the option is expected to add a minor boost to iPhone sales, around 1 to 1.5 million per quarter. For contrast, Apple sold 18.65 million black iPhones in its last fiscal quarter.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
Brian White really seems to like that "white" iPho
Most likely the reason it sold out because of resellers trying to turn a profit, but for whatever reason, the iPhones got sold and that's what matters. It's amazing that consumers would be interested in buying an older iPhone just because it's white. Apple seems to be able to sell anything it has except its stock. No lines for that. I hope Apple offers a white iPhone 5 because that should make it worthwhile for consumers to have a color option. I'd think that purchasers of white iPhones would only be a small minority.