Russia’s loyal Apple fans quickly depleted central Moscow’s supply of iPhone Xs as the smartphone’s 10th anniversary edition went on sale worldwide Friday.
The slick gadget’s price in the capital ranges from 79,990 rubles ($1,369) to 91,990 rubles.
Retailers M.Video and Evroset were sold out of the new generation at their central locations by late Friday morning, the Rambler news service RNS reported.
Apple’s official retailer re:Store sold all of its 256 Gb iPhone Xs only an hour after its store on central Moscow’s main thoroughfare, Tverskaya, opened Friday morning.
Customers waiting in line, polled by RNS, said they were ready to resell their new new phones for up to double the retail price. Others said they were ready to purchase the 256 Gb iPhone X for a significant mark-up price of 130,000 rubles.
Paramedics rushed one man to the hospital after he spent three days waiting outside for the iPhone X’s release, RNS reported.
City authorities on Thursday brought in a bus with internal heating to help customers cope with Moscow’s freezing temperatures.
The launch coincided with a major spike in the number of theft cases in September and October of earlier iPhone models, as demand grows due to lower retail sales prices, the RBC business portal reported, citing Moscow police data.
