Apple is sticking to a recent reservation system for the Hong Kong launch of the new iPad. According to Apple's website, shoppers will be able to register starting the morning of the 15th local time, and pick up an iPad the next day at the IFC Mall Apple Store. Signs spotted by Engadget warn people not to line up, informing them that "Apple will not serve on a first come first serve basis for new ipad [sic]."
Apple today announced the third-generation iPad at an event in San Francisco. The device's main feature is a 2048x1536 Retina Display, twice the resolution of the iPad 2, rated at 264 pixels per inch; existing apps will be upscaled automatically. Color saturation is said to be 44 percent higher. The tablet also makes the switch to a new dual-core but quad graphics processor, the A5X, which Apple says is built with the Retina Display in mind. Interface-wise the tablet has been improved with features like voice dictation.
Apple Hong Kong is taking stricter measures in a bid to cope with iPhone scalpers. A page on the company's online store now presents a lottery system for iPhone buyers, preventing them from using bots to make online reservations as soon as new phones are available. The iPhone 4 and 4S are no longer available to walk-in buyers at the company's Hong Kong retail store.
As promised, Apple has launched special Lunar New Year online sales in a handful of countries. These are notably similar to the company's Black Friday deals in the US, which were modest in scope. At the Hong Kong Apple Store, for instance, Apple is offering about 8 percent off Wi-Fi iPads, or 6 to 7 percent off 3G models.
Apple is threatening to sue Hong Kong company InIcons over its Steve Jobs figure, says UK newspaper The Telegraph. The product is set to go on sale next month for $100, and copy many details of Jobs' signature look, from facial features down to his sneakers. Apple, though, is reportedly claiming in a letter to InIcons that it has the rights to Jobs' likeness, along with more standard likenesses such as logos, products, and names.
Apple is running a special Lunar New Year promotion on Friday, January 6th, the company has announced. In China and Hong Kong, as well as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines, people will be able to visit local Apple online stores for rare first-party discounts. As with the company's Black Friday sale, though, no prices are being advertised ahead of time.
The iPhone 4S sold out in Hong Kong even faster than previously thought, a memo from Ticonderoga Securities' Brian White indicates. The analyst claims that both the city's Apple Store and all authorized resellers sold out within a space of three hours; Apple's local online store states that there is "no supply" of the phone left. Earlier accounts had just the Apple Store selling out by lunchtime.
The Hong Kong Apple Store sold out of iPhone 4S stock within a matter of hours today, according to reports. The device went on sale at 7AM local time, but by lunchtime is said to have been unavailable from Apple directly. Approximately 1,250 people are claimed to have waited in an official line, while over 2,000 gathered outside of it. Although some carrier stores may still have stock, the Apple Store was possibly the surest way of getting a 4S, since pre-orders sold out in 10 minutes.
An iPhone 4S lineup at the Hong Kong Apple Store, measuring in the hundreds, was broken up by police on Wednesday night, reports say. Even though the phone only officially launches in Hong Kong on Friday, 4S pre-orders sold out in 10 minutes; this may be why a store lineup first started forming around noon on Tuesday. Police were called in after a group of scalpers allegedly started threatening customers and trying to cut in line.
Pre-orders for the Hong Kong version of the iPhone 4S sold out in a space of 10 minutes, says Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. The option became available this weekend, but was reportedly instantly swamped with buyers. Some iPhones should still be available for this Friday's launch, but only after waiting in line at a first- or third-party outlet.
A graphic created by a 19-year-old student at Hong Kong's Polytechnic University School of Design, Jonathan Mak, is enjoying massive popularity, Reuters reports. The image is a take on the standard Apple corporate logo, but with the "bite" replaced by a silhouette of Steve Jobs' head. Reuters notes that following Jobs' death, the graphic has become so popular online that caps and t-shirts with it are being sold an eBay, and Mak himself has received a job offer.
Apple has today formally launched its Nanjing East store in Shanghai, China. The outlet is Apple's largest in China to date. One report notes that it may serve up to 40,000 people per day, and that some 300 store workers were present for the opening, with about 500 visitors lined up to become the first official customers. Reuters adds that some people flew in from nearby cities.
One or more thieves broke into the Renaissance at Colony Park Apple Store in Ridgeland, Mississippi on Monday morning, reports say. The incident occurred sometime around 4:30AM, and resulted in at least 20 computers being stolen. Local police say that a car was spotted traveling at high speed on the roundabout on Highland Colony Parkway and Old Agency Road at 4AM, which prompted them to patrol nearby businesses. The theft was called in to station roughly 20 to 30 minutes later.
The MacBook Air has been selling extremely well in Hong Kong since its debut there this week, says Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. The computer is said to have generated long lineups and stock-outs, and possibly even created a halo effect for other Apple products. Stores in the city are said to have been sold out of the iPhone 4, and some models of the iPad 2 as well.
Customs officers in Hong Kong and mainland China have stopped an elaborate and unusual smuggling operation, reports say. To transport iPads and iPhones into the mainland, a pulley cable was strung over a river from a rural home in northern Hong Kong to a highrise in the city of Shenzhen. The cable was fired over the water using a crossbow, and the Apple hardware pulled into Shenzhen at night using nylon bags. A one-way trip for a bag is said to have taken roughly two minutes.
Apple is continuing its recent efforts to expand existing stores with one of its shops in Orlando, Florida, sources say. In the city's Mall of Millenia complex, Apple currently occupies a small ground-floor space which is said to be constantly flooded with visitors. When a lease on a larger second-floor space occupied by Z Gallerie came up for renewal earlier this year, the sources claim that Apple jumped on the prospect and ultimately outbid Z Gallerie.
Apple is reportedly set to open its first retail location in Hong Kong as early as this fall, unnamed sources have told M.I.C.. The company is said to be aiming its grand opening for early September, on the heels of an August debut for a separate location in Shanghai. The Hong Kong establishment reportedly fills a 15,000-square-foot space in the International Finance Center mall on Hong Kong Island.
One of Apple's key Asian retail partners, Foxlink, is planning to double the number of Apple-exclusive stores it operates in the region. The chain currently has about 50 stores, but says it will expand to 100 locations by the end of the year. Existing outlets are spread throughout China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Asian launches of the iPad 2 were met with long lines on Thursday, reports say. The most significant of these may be in Japan, which was first slated to get the tablet on March 25th, but had the introduction delayed because of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the north on March 11th. By the time Apple Japan's flagship Ginza store opened at 9AM on Thursday, the iPad 2 lineup was reportedly three blocks long.
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.
Lineups have formed for the white iPhone 4 in Hong Kong, accounts say. The device is already on the verge of going on sale in the city, owing to time differences. Dozens of people can be seen waiting on the streets in a circulating video.
Apple will launch the iPad 2 in 13 more countries next week, according to COO Tim Cook. The executive made the statement during the company's fiscal Q2 results call, addressing the "mother of all backlogs" the tablet has been experiencing. More countries will get the device throughout the third quarter, says Cook.
Sales of the iPhone 4 are finally stabilizing on Apple's Hong Kong online store, checks show. The device is now consistently available, shipping in about 5 to 7 days regardless of the capacity chosen. Previously the phone would only briefly appear for sale online before being pulled again, likely due to intense demand. Hong Kong iPhones are often a target for the gray market.
Many of the iPad 2s sold since Friday's launch have been bought by gray-market dealers planning to resell overseas, Fortune reports. Quantities could be significant, as staff at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City, for instance, estimate that as many as half of the iPads sold there on Friday were bought for foreign markets. Total Friday sales at Fifth Avenue are thought to have been about 7,200 units.
A bevy of new Apple Stores are in the works for 2011, a report says. At least several of these are forecast to open in Italy by the middle of the year, including one in Bologna, a previously unexpected outlet in Florence, and a second Milan location. Possible addresses for the Milan and Florence stores remain unknown.
Carriers serving Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland are having a difficult time dealing with the country's iPhone 4 demand, a report suggests. China Unicom is said to be attributing the problem to Apple, noting that it has not kept up with orders. Unicom is believed to have ordered about 600,000 iPhone 4s, but there is no indication of how many have actually been delivered.
Apple has confirmed plans to release the iPhone 4 in 17 more regions on Friday. In North America, Canada will finally get the device; the bulk of additional launches are in Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Elsewhere, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore will begin sales.
Hong Kong is and should only increase in importance as a hub for gray-market iPads, reports from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal note. The iPad is officially going on sale in nine new regions today; aside from Hong Kong, these include Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore. Some Hong Kong residents have been able to get the iPad since the US launch, however, through vendors selling tablets originally bought in American stores.
Apple will be opening a large number of Chinese retail stores in the near future, according to an official spokeswoman. Jill Tan says the company has plans to open at least 25 additional shops around the country, including one or more in the Hong Kong area. The 25 scheduled outlets are due to be completed by the end of 2011.
A Hong Kong-based airline, Cathay Pacific Airways, has announced plans to outfit its fleet with technology to support in-flight calling, Wi-Fi, and live TV. The Wi-Fi service, based on Panasonic Avionics technology, is claimed to provide broadband at speeds of up to 50 Mbps.
Another Foxconn worker has died under unusual circumstances, but this time not from suicide, says a Hong Kong-based activist group. Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) says that on May 27th, a 27-year-old engineer named Yan Li collapsed and died from exhaustion. He had been working for 34 hours straight, the group alleges, and his wife claims that prior to that point, Yan had been working the night shift for a month, always putting in overtime.
Clearing up a formerly ambiguous timetable, Apple has announced that the international launch of the iPad is now set for May 28th. Nine regions will get the tablet initially: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. A second wave is only expected in July, including Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.
Apple is still ignoring issues with a Suzhou, China factory involved in producing iPhones, claims a Hong Kong activist group, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM). While a strike at Wintek subsidiary United Win is said to have got the factory workers an expected bonus, both Apple and Wintek are argued to be sidestepping several other concerns, most notably hexane poisoning. In this sense Apple is disregarding its own code of conduct for suppliers, SACOM charges.
(Updated with correction) Two carriers have announced direct sales of the iPhone 3G and 3GS in Hong Kong, according to reports. SmarTone-Vodafone has not revealed any prices or a release date, but is now registering interest through a form on its website. The other carrier, 3, has likewise not published a launch date, but has posted prices.
Unlocked versions of the iPhone 3GS are now on sale from Apple's Hong Kong online store. In contrast with many regions, including a number with multiple iPhone carriers, Hong Kong only requires that shoppers have the proper SIM card inserted to use a 3GS with any GSM network. 16GB phones are being sold online for $5,388 HK ($692 US), while 32GB models cost $6,288 HK ($808 US).
BenQ's JoyBook Lite U101 -- only recently revealed -- is now on sale in Hong Kong, reports say. The 10.2-inch netbook was originally expected to ship in November, following the release of an 8.9-inch system. English-language slides from BenQ have meanwhile disclosed some more features, such as the use of a 10.1-inch 16:9 LCD display, rather than one in the 4:3 or 16:10 formats more common to both notebooks and netbooks. The screen is also LED backlit, which provides uniform color and better power efficiency.
The iPhone 3G is now on sale directly from Apple in the city of Hong Kong, despite no prior announcements, listings reveal. An 8GB phone is selling for $5,400 HK ($692), while a 16GB model costs $6,200 HK ($794). Notably, iPhones in the region can be "activated with any wireless carrier," according to Apple, and require only that a carrier's SIM card be installed prior to sync with iTunes 8.
