The Apple store in Hong Kong drew record crowds for the official launch of iPhone 4S on Friday. Over 3,000 people showed up outside the store but Apple only allowed 1,250 access to the line as doors opened at promptly 7:00 AM to allow shoppers inside.
Customers were limited to purchasing 5 handsets each, some reports indicated that the store was SOLD OUT by noon. There was chaos directly outside the front of the store as a number of scalpers and professional line sitters sold off their devices for roughly $129 US in profit from each iPhone. That amounts to a weeks wages for some and five phones bringing in the equivalent of a month's salary in a matter of hours.
"The whole place was like a mess," M.I.C. Gadget wrote. "Apple called in the police and security to set up cattle pens and fences to keep the line sitters from milling about and cutting in line."
The featured video below captured by Neonpunch.com, shows the massive crowd cheering the store opening as they push inside to celebrate the power of filthy capitalism at work in China. Pre-orders of Apple's wildly popular iPhone 4S sold out in roughly 45 minutes . Initial reports coming from one over zealous analyst in the U.S. claimed pre-orders sold out in just 10 minutes. Apple set the pre-order limit at 10 devices for customers in Hong Kong which would explain why the handsets were depleted so quickly.
[photo M.I.C. Gadget]
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