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iPhone 7 Being Snapped Up in Asia, but Crowds Smaller Despite Sell Out

iPhone 7 Being Snapped Up in Asia, but Crowds Smaller Despite Sell-Out

By Reuters | Updated: 16 September 2016 09:44 IST

Highlights

Underneath the usual fanfare, crowds were smaller than in past years
Apple will launch in its key Asian market China later on Friday
Sales in China will be the acid test for Apple's year ahead

Apple fans from Sydney to Tokyo, the first to snap the new iPhone 7 off the shelves, cheered as they left stores on Friday brandishing their purchases, flanked by applauding sales staff.

But underneath the usual fanfare, and despite complaints that the larger size of the new phone and the new jet black colour were sold out, crowds were smaller than in past years.

(Also see: India Price of Entire iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus Lineup Announced)

Some 200 people were gathered in Sydney light drizzle for the privilege of being the first worldwide to hold an iPhone 7. Apple will launch in its key Asian market China later on Friday.

"It feels great to be the first in the world to have the iPhone 7. It was 100 percent worth it," said Marcus Barsoum, a 16-year-old "diehard Apple fan" who spent two nights camped outside the Sydney store.

Weary but elated, Barsoum charged in to the store at 8am to the cheers of Apple staff. He emerged with a matte black iPhone 7 although he had wanted a iPhone 7 Pus in jet black.

(Also see: iPhone 7 Jet Black Variant Can Get Easily Scratched)

Dale Adams, who works at J.P. Morgan in Sydney, arrived only 15 minutes before the store opened and was able to buy a iPhone 7 Plus, having ordered it online more than a week ago.

"I'm certainly not one of the hardcore Apple fans but I think the bigger capacity, better battery, better camera, that's enough to make the jump," he said.

Chatter about the launch on Chinese microblog Weibo has been far more muted than when the iPhone 6 debuted in 2014. An index of searches on Baidu, China's equivalent of Google, shows the new phone lagging both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5.

(Also see: iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus First Impressions)

Sales in China will be the acid test for Apple's year ahead: the mega success of the iPhone 6 in China drove sales last year, while the slower-burn iPhone 6s contributed to Apple's first global revenue drop in over a decade earlier this year.

(Also see: iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE Price in India Slashed)

Stores open in China later on Friday, a holiday.

© Thomson Reuters 2016

Apple iPhone 7

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Best-in-class performance
Good battery life
Improved cameras
iOS 10, timely updates

Bad
Low light camera performance not best in class

Read detailed Apple iPhone 7 review

Display 4.70-inch

Processor Apple A10 Fusion

Front Camera 7-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 2GB

Storage 32GB

Battery Capacity 1960mAh

OS iOS 10

Resolution 750x1334 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great performance
Dual camera
Excellent battery life
Improved cameras
iOS 10, timely updates

Bad
Low light camera performance not best in class
Expensive
Ungainly

Read detailed Apple iPhone 7 Plus review

Display 5.50-inch

Processor Apple A10 Fusion

Front Camera 7-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 3GB

Storage 32GB

Battery Capacity 2900mAh

OS iOS 10

Resolution 1080x1920 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

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