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SINGAPORE: The competition for the iPhone market in Singapore is getting keener, with all the three telcos now offering the device.
The competition started on Tuesday night with SingTel tweaking its iPhone plans to make them more attractive.
On Wednesday, M1 announced that it will offer a 12-gigabyte data bundle for two of its lower-end iPhone plans, which previously offered 10GB. The data charges are also now capped at a lower S$30.
It was a response to StarHub's announcement earlier in the day of a S$30 cap to its data charges.
Both StarHub and M1 started selling the iPhone on Wednesday, ending the nearly 18-month monopoly which SingTel had over the sale of iPhones in Singapore.
With the latest development, the iPhone mania returned with a vengeance.
At two of M1's collection points, the queue started on Tuesday night, hours before the phone became available at midnight.
Some 1,500 customers formed long lines at Paragon and Westmall, as those who had pre-ordered the phone had to join walk-in customers in the same queue.
When MediaCorp visited the Paragon Orchard outlet around noon on Wednesday, about 100 people were still waiting to be served.
Lawyer Ramesh Tiwary, who has been eyeing to sign up after his contract expired two months ago, did not mind the long wait.
"Over the last couple of days, the plans have been getting better and better, so I think now is the right time to get it. Now, it's really good because over a few nights, things have become a lot better," he said.
Over at the StarHub's Plaza Singapura collection point, queues were not as long because only customers who had pre-ordered their iPhones get to collect them.
Walk-in customers need to place their orders and are alerted to return to one of 20 collection points that is nearest to them. A StarHub spokesperson said this arrangement saves customers from waiting in line.
Still, customers like Aces Lim waited two hours before finally receiving her prized gadget.
For customer Michelle Tok, who was only browsing, she is hoping that more tempting offers will be dished out.
She said: "Prices are all very competitive, it's not really a major issue right now. There's a cap to how low they can go also. Of course, I would love to get it free, but it's not going to happen.
"I think it's the perks and also the after-service and feedback that I get from my friends that will affect my decision."
And here's good news for Channel NewsAsia fans.
The Channel NewsAsia iPhone app is now available via SMS download by dialling 75500 with the message "app", so not just SingTel, but also M1 and Starhub subscribers can enjoy the free news app.
The news app is available at the iTunes store or via the channelnewsasia.com app page as a free download.
- CNA/ir
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