UPDATE: Russian retailers like first results of iPhone 7, 7 Plus sales

(Changes headline, lede, adds paragraphs 2–4)

MOSCOW, Sep 23 (PRIME) -- Russian retailers and mobile operators are satisfied with the start of sales of Apple’s new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on Friday, and demand is twice as much as it was a year ago for the previous model, spokespeople for sellers told PRIME.

“We’re happy with the results of first sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. We sold twice as many devices as last year in 16 cities during the first hours,” Anna Aybasheva, press secretary for mobile operator VimpelCom, which also runs a retail chain, said.

A spokesperson for mobile operator and retailer MegaFon also said that sales doubled on the year on the first day of sales.

The retailers pointed to a high interest among buyers to the smartphone’s new jet black finishing.

Several hundreds of people lined earlier on Friday in front of Moscow’s high-street store GUM for Apple’s new devices.

The queue, which had started forming since early hours of Friday, consisted mainly of young people of 18–25 years.

According to Hi-Tech Mail.Ru, the number of pre-orders for the new iPhone flagship – opened by most resellers on September 16 – reached 20,000, and half of them were placed with mobile operators, also running retail chains.

A source on the telecom market said one of the country’s leading operator collected over 2,000 pre-orders across Russia.

The price of the iPhone 7 starts from 56,990 rubles and of the iPhone 7 Plus from 67,990 rubles.

(63.7942 rubles – U.S. $1)

End