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.”