Droves of people turning out to purchase the iPhone 4–made available last week by Cairo's mobile operators–are marking a mobile phone craze unprecedented in the Egyptian market.
CEO Vodafone Egypt Hatem Duweidar said last Wednesday three company stores began selling the product. Customers booked the iPhone 4 two weeks in advance, according to Duweidar, who also assured customers the product's Face Time application can be activated in Egypt because it relies on WiFi technology.
Mobinil's first batch of the Apple product has sold out through the company's website, according to Mobinil representatives.
Etisalat has yet to make a decision to sell the phone. Sales agents are unaware of when, if at all, the company will receive its first shipment.
The Egyptian craze is incomparable to other Arab states which saw sell-outs of the iPhone 4 on its first day of availability, an Apple client told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The technology Face Time enables iPhone 4 users to make free video calls. But some experts say the service will be restricted due to necessary WiFi coverage.
One expert cited an Apple distributor who speculates the service will not be available in Egypt at all because of its dependence on VOIP–technology used by Skype, an internet phone call program.
The iPhone 4 is now selling at LE4660 (16 gigabyte memory) and LE5500 (32 gigabyte) in Egyptian markets. A sales agent at one of Egypt’s mobile operators says that new product has decreased the price of older models, particularly the iPhone 3, whose price dropped to LE3660 for the 16-gigabyte model.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
