The iPhone 5 is here

Dubai The iPhone 5 is witnessing twice the demand of the iPhone 4s in the import market, according to mobile phone distributors SIASA Telecom Dubai.

The UK-based company with a wholesale branch in the UAE became the first to bring the iconic phone to the UAE shores on September 22 just a day after it officially went on sale worldwide.

Mohammad Sadiq, Director, SIASA Dubai told XPRESS their phones have not stopped ringing since Saturday, with almost all imported pieces being pre-booked. “From Saturday we brought in three shipments into the UAE totaling around 1,000 pieces and more than 80 percent of that was already pre-sold. We have received twice the number of orders on the iPhone 5 compared to last year’s iPhone 4s.”

Meanwhile some group buying sites were offering the i5 at Dh3,799 on Tuesday.

Apple’s latest iPhone features a stunning new 4-inch Retina display, an A6 chip for fast performance and better battery life. The new iOS 6 software has 200 new features, but there are some concerns in the UAE, especially about the new Apple Maps.

There’s no word yet on when Apple will release the iPhone 5 in the UAE. And even though Gitex has been the ideal platform for such launches by etisalat and du in the past, this year it looks like one will have to wait some time before we get it here — officially.