iPhone 5 Swings Back Into China, This Time at Retail Stores
Posted 12/14/2012 at 6:07am
| by J.R. Bookwalter
Sure, you've already had your iPhone 5 for nearly three months, so it's old news to you -- but what about the folks who live in mainland China and Taiwan who have had to go without all that time? That problem is now in the past.
Engadget is reporting that the iPhone 5 officially went on sale in mainland China and Taiwan on Friday, along with a long list of 31 other countries around the world. To the surprise of no one, the Chinese debut was once again met with lines of eager buyers, but they weren't quite as long this time around.
Before you go thinking the Chinese iPhone 5 premiere was a bust, take note of the fact that Apple is now requiring launch day customers to first make an online reservation, then waiting for notification before heading to their local retail establishment.
So while the lines may have been shorter, there was none of the disturbances of last year's iPhone 4S launch, and judging from the photos posted around Taipei, Shenzhen and Beijing, things were mostly calm, collected and cool -- as in "bitterly cold" for this time of the year.
The full list of countries getting the iPhone 5 today includes Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
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(Image courtesy of Engadget and Sina Tech)