iPhone 4S Sells Out in Hong Kong in 3 Hours

Hong Kong customers have welcomed iPhone 4S with both hands as the device was sold out in just three hours at the new Apple store there, according to China tech news site, TechNode.

Meanwhile, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White wrote that his own checks Friday morning indicated that the Apple authorized resellers in Hong Kong also completed the sales of the new iPhone early in the day despite the fact that the most important new feature, Siri, did not speak Mandarin.

Today was the first day the iPhone 4S became available at stores in Hong Kong but pre-ordering opened up last Friday. Today's sellout follows our checks in Hong Kong last Friday that indicated the iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out in less than ten minutes, White wrote in a note to clients.

The Hong Kong Apple online store indicates that there is no supply of the iPhone 4S available while the U.S. store still has 1-2 weeks shipping times.

Meanwhile, the current version of Apple's Siri personal digital assistant with voice recognition capabilities on iPhone 4S was not launched in Hong Kong with the ability to recognize Mandarin. Currently, only English, French and German languages are available.

However, the analyst's checks indicate that Siri will be available in Mandarin by March 2012.

With 16 percent of sales from China, we believe the iPhone 4S sellout in Hong Kong within just three hours bodes well for demand in China. We expect Apple to launch the iPhone 4S in mainland China this December, White said.

During the September quarter, Apple generated $4.5 billion in revenue, an increase of 270 percent from last year, from Greater China. In fiscal 2011, Apple generated $13 billion in sales from Greater China, compared to $3 billion in fiscal 2010.