iPhone 4S grey market booming in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s iPhone 4S fans eagerly snapped up Apple’s latest smartphone offering this weekend, with some paying six times the phone’s retail value.

Dealers had managed to secure grey imports of the much-anticipated Apple product, as the iPhone 4S is not yet on sale in Hong Kong. Apple released the iPhone 4S in seven countries across the globe. Hong Kong dealers, therefore, had to snag models from countries such as Japan and Australia.

The imported iPhone 4S’ retail from between HK$10 000 and HK$12 000 or US$1 300 to US$1 500 on the grey market. In the US, the standard retail price is from US$200 to US$400 with a mandatory two-year contract.