(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Du officially launched the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at midnight on Saturday to a throng of excited and anxious customers an undertaking which went well into the wee hours.
The crowd of people waiting to get their hands on iPhone 6 as soon as it was launched in the UAE at iStyle store in The Dubai Mall on Friday night. — KT photo by Leslie Pableo
As early as 6pm on Friday Apple fans queued at the du head office in Dubai Internet City waiting and wanting to be the first to get their hands on Apple’s new devices.
The reward for the real early birds Free iPhone 6 units — including a staggering five on-the-house devices for the first customer.
Du officially launched the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at midnight on Saturday to a throng of excited and anxious customers — an undertaking which went well into the wee hours.
At exactly 12 midnight Osman Sultan chief executive officer of du together with other senior officials from the company handed out the first units of the new iPhones to du customers who had pre-booked.
Amid the frenzy of the night an Emirati man was the brightest star: he was the first in line and for his efforts was rewarded by du with five free iPhones besides the one he bought. And six was indeed the number to know: customer numbers two to six also got a free iPhone each.
Joe Nassar from Abu Dhabi who was among the ‘Magic Six’ was visibly stunned by what he just received. “I waited for six hours...and I ended up with two iPhones. It’s an amazing surprise” he told Khaleej Times. Aside from the bragging rights he now has he says the free unit will go to his fiancée.
And as if all those sixes weren’t enough here’s more: du is offering a never-before-seen offer for its iPhone 6 customers — six months on the customer six months on du. Users who sign up for a Smart Plan or Emirati Plan starting from Dh250 will enjoy free usage for even-numbered months.
“We’ve added a very new flavour...the customer is committed for a year but we will be paying for the six months” Ahmed Mokhles executive vice-president of consumer business at du told Khaleej Times during the course of the event.
“This is a very competitive offer...and by far the best offer seen in the UAE” he added.
Mokhles also lauded the faster official arrival of the new devices to the UAE saying that this speaks volumes of how Apple now highly regards the country. For the first time ever there was only a gap of about a week between the US and UAE launches.
“It is positioning the UAE as one of the global carriers within the strategic view of Apple” Mokhles said.
“It also ranks us (high) in terms of the allocation of volumes.”
“Apple’s not only looking at UAE telecoms as a stand-alone industry; it’s looking into the entire ICT industry itself” he added alluding to the fact that the UAE indeed is a hub for technology and communications.
Mokhles stressed that the relationship between du and Apple is “beyond” a strong partnership and that both are looking into more ways to deliver the best products and services to customers.
Asked if there are any more surprises of this magnitude from du within the year he simply said: “You can expect lots more.”
Which means it isn’t a bad idea to plan ahead and mark your calendar for du’s launch of the iPhone 7 — or whatever it will be called — next year. Maybe by then seven phones could be yours for the price of one.
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