Vinaphone’s retail store at 80 Nguyen Du Street in HCMC’s District 1 was overcrowded with Apple iPhone 4 enthusiasts who began queuing at 5:30 a.m., but just some of them succeeded in buying the phone.
Le Huu Minh Nhat from Tan Binh District, the first buyer of the iPhone 4, told the Daily that he had ordered the phone at the Vinaphone website before the network announced the phone price on Wednesday.
The 16GB version of the iPhone 4 costs VND13.4 million and the 32GB version sells for VND15.6 million, including a VND600,000 deposit.
Vinaphone just sold the smartphone to post-paid subscribers who placed online orders at iphone.vinaphone.com.vn.
Pham Ngoc Tu, marketing manager of Vinaphone, told the Daily that the company sold out the iPhone 4 in the first day of going on sale given a limited volume.“We imported a small quantity, so post-paid subscribers were given priority. We will continue to import more to meet the demand,” Tu said.
Tu said Vinaphone originally planned to sell the iPhone 4 at three locations – 384 Xa Dan, Dong Da District in Hanoi, 4 Nguyen Van Linh Street in Danang and 80 Nguyen Du in HCMC’s District 1, HCMC. But due to large crowds at these outlets, Vinaphone added a fourth shop in Hanoi.
In the same situation was Viettel whose 20 retail shops sold out the iPhone 4 on the launch day on Thursday. The company sold a limited number as well.Different from Vinaphone, Viettel sold the smartphone to both pre- and post-paid subscribers and offered a price which was VND100,000 per unit lower than Vinaphone. Viettel customers bought the 32GB version for VND15.5 million only, compared to the VND15.6 million quoted by Vinaphone.
For clients who want to buy the locked version of the iPhone 4 without any binding terms of service, they will place a deposit of VND599,000 at Viettel.
Viettel on Thursday had to hold lucky draws for clients wishing to buy the phone as there were more orders than its available stock. By 9:00 am on Thursday, Viettel announced it had gone out of stock.Viettel, Vinaphone and MobiFone inked deals with Apple to distribute the iPhone in Vietnam early this year. But MobiFone has yet to announce its intention to sell this favorite Apple device.
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