In South Korea, the home country of Apple rivals Samsung and LG, preorders for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were sold out in all three carriers in only 30 minutes or less.
The preorders for the latest Apple flagship smartphones were initially scheduled to begin last week. However, price reductions initiated by both Samsung and LG would have made the smartphone market "overheat," according to telecommunications authorities in South Korea. As such, the preorder period for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were pushed back one week.
Samsung and LG hoped that they could defend their home turf through price reductions that could take away sales from Apple. The price of Samsung's Galaxy S6 was dropped by 13 percent, bringing its price in South Korea to the equivalent of $706. This is also about the same price point for LG's V10 smartphone, which is unusual as flagship devices typically launch in South Korea at prices much higher than that.
However, lower prices for smartphones by its rivals was not enough to sidetrack Apple and its new flagship smartphones from being sold out so quickly in South Korea.
According to Korea Telecom, 10,000 units were sold over the first minute that the preorder website for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus was launched. In 10 minutes, 50,000 units were already sold, with the Rose Gold model being the one showing the most demand. Later within the day, a second batch of preorders also sold out.
LG Uplus reported that its preorder inventory of the Apple devices sold out in only five minutes. SK Telecom sold out its preordered units, unofficially amounting to 50,000 units, in just 30 minutes.
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will officially be released on Oct. 23 in South Korea.
