Apple product launches these days are jam-packed with hype and hysteria we’ve all become familiar with. The leaked product photos, the midnight store trading hours on launch night, the ‘Out of Stock’ posters preprinted and slapped on store windows 30 minutes after opening. This time, though, there’s a party pooper lurking in the wings.
Samsung has taken the extraordinary step of leasing a premier shopfront two doors down from the Sydney Apple store. If that wasn’t enough, the company is selling its high-end Samsung Galaxy S II handset for $2! In what is obviously a publicity stunt, the Korean multinational is limiting its unit sales per day – obviously to avoid a consumer stampede and financial catastrophe.
Still, the ‘battle for the queue’ seems to be firing up in Sydney, with Samsung’s queue bigger than Apple’s. You’d expect that when you’re selling an $800 item for just $2.