By Juro Osawa
HONG KONG--More than 100 people gathered amid tight security
outside Hong Kong's Apple Store early Friday as they awaited their
chance to buy an iPhone 5, the latest version of Apple Inc.'s
(AAPL) smartphone.
The atmosphere was orderly. More than a dozen security guards
were on hand, and the store had pre-empted the possibility of an
overly large crowd forming by making the iPhone 5 available only to
people who had made online reservations to buy one of the devices
via Apple's web page for Hong Kong.
The store, inside a shopping mall in the International Finance
Center building, also set up an airport check-in style waiting area
for people in front of the entrance, but shoppers weren't allowed
to enter that area until a few minutes before the shop's doors
opened.
The crowd stood patiently alongside the wall across from the
entrance, with the security staff hovering nearby. Most of the
noise and fanfare came from the store's employees, all clad in blue
T-shirts, who began chanting "iPhone 5! iPhone 5!" before the shop
opened. When the doors opened, security staff and store employees
escorted the people who had made reservations, one by one, into the
store.
Kevin Tse, a 26-year-old employee at an advertising company, was
among the first people to pick up the new iPhone. He bought two,
one for himself and one for his girlfriend.
Mr. Tse, who had bought one of Samsung Electronics Co.'s
(005930.SE) flagship Galaxy SIII smartphones just a few months ago,
decided to buy the iPhone 5 because he was attracted to new
features such as its larger screen, which measures four inches
diagonally, compared with the 3.5-inch screen on earlier
models.
Mr. Tse said he owned an iPhone 4S, the previous model of
Apple's smartphone, before buying the Galaxy SIII, adding he
preferred the Samsung phone's larger screen. "But I'm now switching
back to the iPhone," he said.
Dixon Cheung, 24, also bought two of the latest iPhones, saying
he planned to sell one of them. Mr. Cheung, who works at an apparel
factory, has been using the iPhone for years, starting with the
iPhone 3GS. "It's the most user-friendly phone," he said.
Write to Juro Osawa at juro.osawa@dowjones.com
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