John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

Apple Store Lottery the Only Cure for Hong Kong’s iPhone 5 Fever

The iPhone 5 hit Hong Kong on Sept. 21, as part of a first wave of international launches, and, like most of the other markets the device has reached, it is in very short supply there.

Recent visitors to Hong Kong and a few longtime residents tell AllThingsD that it’s tough to find any iPhone 5 inventory in the city. “The stores are all sold out,” said one local. “Carriers like SmarTone are taking orders, but they’re not offering delivery until late October, early November. If you’ve just got to have one, your best bet is the Apple Store lottery, but that’s a total crapshoot.”

And that does seem to be the case. Reports from the Apple Store in the International Finance Center Mall (IFC) in central Hong Kong suggest that it’s no easy to feat to hit the iPhone 5 jackpot.

“At Apple’s retail store, the iPhone 5 can be ordered online and a lottery process determines who is eligible for pickup at the store the next day,” Topeka analyst Brian White said after his visit to Hong Kong. “Based on our conversations, you might have a better shot at winning [an actual] lottery than getting the iPhone 5 the next day.”

White’s assessment of the current Hong Kong gadget zeitgeist: the city has “iPhone 5 fever.”

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December 30, 2013 at 6:49 am PT

2013 Was a Good Year for Chromebooks

December 29, 2013 at 2:12 pm PT

BlackBerry Pulls Latest Twitter for BB10 Update

December 29, 2013 at 5:58 am PT

Apple CEO Tim Cook Made $4.25 Million This Year

December 28, 2013 at 12:05 pm PT

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus