A diehard Apple fan in Hanoi told a local newswire on Friday that he and many others had lined up overnight to be the first to purchase the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, official distribution of which started the same day.
Dong Manh Hieu was the first to show up at the Vinaphone store on Huynh Thuc Khang Street, at 7:00 pm on Thursday, he told Vietnamese-language newswire Vietnam News Agency.
The guard of the building where the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are set to be officially sold confirmed that Hieu was the early bird.
“Many other Apple aficionados then joined me and we had a fun night at the building hall without feeling exhausted,” Hieu told the newswire.
Vietnamese users were able to buy Apple’s latest smartphones as early as September 19, when the devices were officially released by the U.S. tech titan in ten markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore, thanks to products brought to Vietnam by traders who attended the product launches there.
Customers who want to buy the officially distributed products have had to wait nearly two months before mobile network operators Viettel and Vinaphone, and telecom giant FPT, began sales.
As of 6:30 am Friday, 30 Apple fans were at the Vinaphone store, according to Vietnam News Agency.
VinaPhone has said it is also offering the iPhone 6 at stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Nam Dinh, Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Da Nang and Dak Lak.
Each store in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will have 120 devices available, while stores in other localities are allocated 40 handsets each.
Military-run Viettel, meanwhile, will distribute half of the new iPhone in its stock to customers with preorders, and the remainder to the early birds, according to Vietnam News Agency.