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SA Apple fans can't wait for new iPhone

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 08 Nov 2017
An iPhone X sold for over R30 000 on bidorbuy.
An iPhone X sold for over R30 000 on bidorbuy.

Apple's completely redesigned smartphone, the iPhone X, has been released in key markets overseas and is expected to be available in SA from 24 November, in time for holiday shopping.

However, eager early adopters do not want to wait a month to get their hands on the tenth anniversary edition of the Apple flagship, and are willing to pay hefty prices.

Over the weekend, local online marketplace bidorbuy sold a 256GB iPhone X for R32 500. It had been bought by one of its sellers in a country where the device is available, and offered for re-sale in SA.

The iPhone X handset has a recommended price tag of $999 for the lowest internal memory capacity, but could sell for close to or over R20 000 here, due to import and shipping fees.

It features a 5.85-inch edge-to-edge bezel-less display, an OLED screen, no home button, an improved front camera system and 3D imaging software. It also has wireless charging.

Bidorbuy, which does not carry its own stock but instead acts as a platform for sellers to reach buyers or put their wares on auction, says it will have another five 265GB iPhone X handsets for sale this week, priced at R29 999, as part of its 'deal of the week' campaign.

At the time of writing, one of the five had already been sold.

"Thanks to the agility of our sellers, bidorbuy is once again in the privileged position to be the first to offer to the South African public the newest and most eagerly awaited wonder from what is arguably the world's most technologically advanced company," says bidorbuy CEO Jaco Jonker.

The handset was officially released in the US, Europe and some parts of Asia last week Friday, when throngs of people lined up outside Apple stores in these regions to be the first to purchase the new iPhone.

This used to be common practice for new iPhones, but faded in recent years as customers were not impressed by how little the iPhone had changed between iterations.

There was speculation that Apple would not be able to meet demand for the new product, but Reuters reported on the day of launch that the company was "quite happy" with how manufacturing of the iPhone X was progressing.

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