iPhone XS in UAE: Fans ready to shell out more

Dubai - As always, customers from overseas fly in just to be among the first get hold of the new devices

Apple's new flagships started flying off UAE shelves on Friday, with a familiar face once again kicking off sales.
Though not as huge as the crush in recent years, the trillion-dollar company welcomed a good-sized crowd at the Apple Store in The Dubai Mall, as expected, as it officially rolled out sales of the new iPhone XS and XS Max, as well as the Apple Watch Series 4.
Queues were also seen at its other outlets in the UAE, in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates and Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall.
Though generally a smaller size compared to previous launches, customers slowly but surely trickled in outside the Apple Store after sales started.
Bakhit Alsubousi, from Abu Dhabi, who came in second last year, beat everyone else for pre-booking this time around and was the first to be welcomed inside the store by Apple staff with wild cheers.
As always, there were fans who flew all the way to the UAE - one of the markets that regularly get new iterations of the iPhone first - just to satisfy their tech craving.
Vladislav Mikheev, who was the first in line and came with his entourage all the way from St Petersburg, Russia, started the vigil at 11am on Thursday. He made sure the trek was all worth it as he walked away with six iPhones.
"I've been using the iPhone for 10 years now," he told Khaleej Times. "I like Apple because it is faster [than other brands]."
Mikheev's brother, Konstantin, added that the iPhones were the only reason they came to the UAE: they arrived in Dubai on Thursday and went straight to The Dubai Mall, and they are flying out of the country tomorrow, eager to show off their new digital toys back home in Russia, which will have to wait a week more before the new devices hit the market there.
The next walk-in customer to Mikheev was Dmitrii Iakovlev, who was equally elated upon receiving his new iPhone after the long wait.
Lebanese Judy Asaad, who came with his mother and was the most ecstatic customer, gamely posed for photos and videos.
"I've been an iPhone user since the iPhone 3G, and I've never swapped," Assad, who was one of the first who-pre-booked the iPhone XS, told Khaleej Times. "iOS is addictive; just the interface itself... everything is so integrated, it's perfect."
"From AirPods to Watches and everything else, we have all of them," his mother added.
The 5.8-inch iPhone XS and 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max were unveiled last week at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. With both having a new 512GB storage capacity - also the largest on an iPhone - and the latter the biggest in the series so far, prices were also hiked.
The iPhone XS comes with price tags of Dh4,229 (64GB), Dh4,859 (256GB) and Dh5,709 (512GB). The iPhone XS Max, meanwhile, is worth Dh4,649, Dh5,279 and Dh6,129, respectively.
The smartphones also come with dual-SIM capabilities, with the second slot using an eSIM - although this will not be available in the UAE for now.
The turnout on Friday was in line with reliable Apple tipster Ming-Chi Kuo, who issued a research note outlining his opinions on a lower interest prediction in the first-week pre-orders of the iPhone XS.
Data from electronics trade-in site BankMyCell, first shared to Khaleej Times, noted that, taking into consideration pre-order weeks only, interest in the iPhone XS grew 585.71 per cent compared to the iPhone X's 871.42 per cent spike last year.
Aggregated global data from Google was pulled "to visualise the difference between this and last year's iPhone releases", BankMyCell's Richard Morris said.
It is, however, too early to draw conclusions when it comes to the iPhone XS' sales: with the iPhone X, sales gradually increased, and the device that celebrated the 10th anniversary of the iconic gadget led Apple's financials in its usually-tepid fiscal third quarter, which ended in June. Apple CEO Tim Cook lauded the iPhone X as the company's "best-seller".
Meanwhile, eyes are also focused on the upcoming iPhone XR, which was unveiled alongside the iPhone XS devices.
The entry-level smartphone comes in capacities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, and is priced at Dh3,179, Dh3,389 and Dh3,809, respectively.
Kuo added in his note that the iPhone XR is expected to do good, tipping it to account for upwards of 60 per cent of Apple sales. Pre-orders for the device start on October 19 and general availability will be on October 26.
The Apple Watch Series 4, now also bigger at 40mm and 44mm, also started selling in the UAE on Friday. The GPS version starts at Dh1,599, while the GPS + LTE model begins at Dh1,999.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com

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