What you need to know
- The iPhone 13 went on sale for pre-order last week.
- A new report says more than 5 million were ordered in China in a single day from third-parties.
- Apple's website slowed to a crawl because of its popularity.
Day one third-party pre-orders for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro have reportedly topped 5 million in China, as Apple's website slowed to a crawl under the stress of demand.
SCMP reports:
Chinese consumers have pre-ordered millions of the new iPhone 13 across the country's multiple e-commerce platforms, resulting in online traffic jams and viral social media discussions.
According to the report, third-party pre-orders (not counting orders from Apple) topped 5 million in a single day, according to estimates from Chinese state media. JD.com alone reportedly received more than 3 million pre-orders. Furthermore, so many people tried to buy the phone directly from Apple that its website basically broke:
The huge influx of buyers to Apple's official website in China has slowed it to a crawl. The hashtag #Apple'sWebsiteisDown was trending on microblogging site Weibo last week, with related posts amassing more than 460 million views.
According to the report, the first round of iPhones available was gone by Saturday, with pre-orders on that day listed as shipping in the second week of October. The iPhone 13 will be released in China on September 24, as it will be in multiple other countries.
One analyst said they expect Apple's iPhone shipments in China to climb 58.3 percent consecutively in Q4 thanks to competitive pricing, which sees the iPhone 13 priced lower than the iPhone 12, previously Apple's best iPhone.
Apple's iPhone 13 will launch around the world on Friday, bringing with it a new A15 Bionic processor, improved screen, and cameras.
