Stocks of Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max and the iPhone 11 in green and purple have completely run out, Russia’s Kommersant has reported, citing industry sources.
“Due to high demand at the start of sales, some models may be temporarily unavailable in some cities,” Valeria Andreeva, a spokeswoman for Russian electronics retailor M. Video-Eldorado, told the business newspaper.
One Retailor said that as many as 40,000 iPhones were sold in Russia in the first week of sales of the new lines, with prices said to have been inflated from the recommended retail prices by as much as 45 percent from their introductory price of between 60,000 and 90,000 rubles ($925 to $1,485 US, respectively).
However, another source was more skeptical, citing a figure of only 9,200 phones sold, and suggesting that retailers are attempting to inflate hype surrounding the smartphone line amid an absence of demand for some models. Apple has yet to reveal official sales figures.
Retailers expect to be stocked up on sold out models in between two-four weeks’ time.
Hype over the new line of Apple phones was met with fanfare which has become typical for when the company rolls out new products. Earlier this month, Russian media reported that places in line outside the Re-Store shop were being offered for as much as 500,000 rubles ($7,700 US) on Avito and Yula, Russia’s equivalent to Craigslist.
Sales also proved strong in other developing markets, particularly in India, which reportedly saw sales jump by more than 300 percent compared to the sales figures following the release of the iPhone XR last year. However, sales figures have reportedly been more flaccid in China, amid the ongoing trade war with the US, and given the simultaneous launch of the Huawei Mate 30 series, the Chinese tech giant’s new flagship Android-based smartphone featuring a ‘quad camera’ and other advanced features, but not the popular Google apps such as Chrome and YouTube.
