Early UAE Buyer Of Iphone 5 Is ‘Cut Above The Rest’

One of the first UAE buyers of the iPhone 5 shelled out Dhs6,500 for the much-hyped gadget yesterday – then revealed he was set to take a surgical knife to his SIM card to make the phone work.

Dubai-based Apple fanatic Asanka Amareskara was the sharpest to Deira City Centre to pick up the first of just 10 iPhone 5s electronic retailers Jackys had on sale in the UAE yesterday.

While other UAE phone fans’ plans have been butchered by the news the iPhone 5 requires a ‘nano SIM’ rather than a regular card – that didn’t stop the 39-year-old Sri Lankan.

“You cut it and then sandpaper the back. I’ve done it before on a previous phone and it’ll definitely work,” insisted Amareskara of his plans to carve his SIM card into the perfect shape – and make use of the precious gadget immediately.

However, while Amareskara may have been desperate to snap up the new device, as 7DAYS left the store yesterday evening eight out of the 10 handsets Jackys had on sale remained unsold. Reasons for reluctance ranged from the uncertainty over whether it would work due to the SIM card issue and whether the quality of the phone was up to scratch. And then there’s the matter of cost.

“I’m just not interested – especially at that price,” insisted shopper Sam Rafael of the wallet-busting Dhs6,500 handset. But that’s no problem – apparently – to finance man Amareskara.

“The first day 7DAYS ran a story on it, I’ve had it on pre-order,” he said. And guess what Amareskara – whose daughters and wife also have iPhones – is getting a friend to bring him back from today’s Singapore F1 Grand Prix? Yep, another one.

“But at a much lower price …”

…MEANWHILE, DEALERS LINE UP BIG PROFITS

Mohammed Sadiq, director of mobile phone distributor SIASA Telecom, said his phone had been ringing off the hook with UAE tech fans desperate to get their hands on the iPhone 5. It’s big business.

“We had between 50 to 70 collectors stand in line at various stores across London to buy the device,” he said. He estimates he has had twice as many enquiries for the new handset than he did for the equally hyped iPhone 4S. That demand is providing opportunities for people like Rajiv Purshotam, owner of Dubai-based retailer Al Onood Computers.

“We waited in line at Apple’s London store for 13 hours,” he told 7DAYS. “Of course we didn’t all stand there the whole time,” he laughed.

“You get someone to save your spot. You make friends with the security guards – in many cases beforehand over dinner for example – and then you’re sorted.” Snapping up a stash requires forward thinking when it comes to payment too.

“You can’t keep swiping the same credit card over and over – nor are you going to carry that much cash. So they buy lots of gift cards the night before and use those to pay.” He admits he had sympathy for those buyers merely queueing for a phone for their own use.

“The genuine buyers who stand in line get slaughtered. They don’t realise that a lot of those standing in line are just bulk-buyers who have a deal with security or a long line of collectors,” he explained.

7Days