Singapore’s ‘Over-the-top’ Iphone 4 Launch

Long queues at launch of iPhone 4 in Singapore

Apple’s new iPhone 4 went on sale in Singapore Friday, and its debut in this city state may have been more over-the-top than its U.S. debut last month.

Wayne Ma
SingTel customers who waited in line, now with their new iPhone 4s.
Singapore Telecommunications, known as SingTel, Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company by revenue, held its midnight launch party at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Center. The venue, with its almost concert-like atmosphere, was blasting with loud music, colored lights, fog and even a VIP lounge, where waitresses served hors d’oeuvres such as sea scallops with green olive tapenade.

At the stroke of midnight, SingTel revealed a giant rotating model of the iPhone on stage, along with a flashy pyrotechnics display.

Jacky Heng, 18 years old, was one of the first customers to collect his phone on stage. Heng had been waiting in line since 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

“I already sold off my Nexus One, which had reception problems,” he said. “I’m very determined to get this phone.”

SingTel expected to draw at least 500 people to its midnight launch, according to Cheam Tze Hui, a spokeswoman for the company. About 200 staff members were present to manage the crowds, she added.

Many customers agreed that this year’s release was better organized than in previous years, when demand for the iPhone caught SingTel by surprise. And concerns about problems with iPhone 4’s antenna didn’t deter any customers from waiting in line.

“Singapore is so small that there are a lot of overlapping (coverage areas),” said Jason Siah, who had been in line since 9:30 p.m. “Even with two bars, I can still get reception.”

Yuen Kuan Moon, executive vice president of SingTel’s consumer group, said that while the company was only able to sell iPhones to “a few thousand” customers in the first two days of launch, more than 10 times that amount registered their interest on the company’s website.

SingTel took appointments online to buy the phone, but had to stop registration after just a few hours because of strong demand.

“The main difference between this year’s launch is that we did it online, which allowed us to see the real demand for the phone,” he said.