Apple's iPhone 7 stock delays draw ire of consumers in Singapore

Apple's senior vice-president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller speaks during the unveiling of the iPhone 7 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, on Sept 7. PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE - Some consumers who ordered and paid for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will not be able to get the new phones on Friday (Sept 16) due to "delays" on Apple's end.

Complaints have flooded the Facebook pages of StarHub, M1 and Singtel, but the telcos explained that the delay was due to Apple.

One StarHub customer said she received an SMS from the telco earlier on Thursday, notifying her that the jet black and silver models will not be available at Friday's launch "due to a last minute change in iPhone 7 availability at the supplier's end".

She was asked whether she would like to change to the rose gold or black models.

One M1 customer also complained that the model he bought will not be available for collection tomorrow.

"Can I know what is the point for the pre-order?" asked the customer going by the moniker James Koh JL.

To this, M1 replied: "Apple has informed us that some iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus stock has been delayed and will not arrive this weekend. As such, some customers' handsets will not be available for collection."

Due to technical issues, Singtel could not sell the phones as planned on Wednesday. It only started sales at 10am on Thursday.

At 9.45am on Thursday, Singtel said on its Facebook page: "We have been informed that stocks for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in Jet Black, in all capacities will not be arriving on 16 Sep as planned."

In a statement on Wednesday, Apple said initial quantities of the iPhone 7 Plus had sold out globally, with supplies of the larger size of Apple's new phone exhausted in all shades.

It launched the new phones at a San Francisco event earlier this month. The gadgets feature improved cameras and eliminate the traditional headphone jack in favour of new technology.

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