The first iPhone to debut at the new Apple store in Dubai Mall drew dozens of customers early Saturday – a stark contrast to the hundreds who have turned out for past launches according to The National.
Crowd control barriers set up inside the mall to help manage the queues were hardly necessary as fewer than 75 fans showed up to find a place in line before the 8am store opening.
UAE residents took the first and second spots in the queue – their placements secured ahead of time through online reservations - but most of the people waiting in the stand-by queue were tourists, many from Russia and Uzbekistan.
The highly organised, subdued event at least made for a relatively easy shopping experience for those who attended. At 7.50am, customers who had reserved their phones in advance were moved to a second queue of less than 10 people in front of the brightly lit Apple store to wait another few minutes for the official opening.
Reports from other international launches have attributed the muted public response toward the iPhone 8 to Apple marketing fatigue.
Others have said the new iPhone doesn’t offer enough dramatically new features to motivate the masses to upgrade, especially considering the steep price.
The iPhone 8 is priced at Dh2,849 for the 64GB version and Dh3,479 for the 256GB version. The iPhone 8 Plus is Dh3,249 for the 64GB version and Dh3,879 for 256GB. Still some say the public is holding out for iPhone X, due out in November 4 in the UAE, which retails for Dh4,099 for the 64GB model and Dh4,729 for the 256GB one.