it was announced on June 4 Thursday that Apple Watch will Officially begin selling throughout South Korea on June 26 Friday . this is included in the second tier of countries a good TWO Months after the first began selling April 24 Friday .
since then it has been flowing into the Penninsula by Koreans living abroad as well as sack merchants (translated as they regularly bring-in packages in a Santa Claus-like sack, usually hiding from international border customs) and returning students and travelers, with almost W200,000 premium added to Sports models and even W400,000 on the more expensive stainless steel .
looking at Official press release on briefly where it will be available : the pattern to be sold in South Korea, would follow that of Japan which was on the earlier first tier of countries to begin selling Apple Watches . ofcourse one big difference is that Japan has about two dozen Official Apple Stores while South Korea only has one which is On-Line .
following this scenario : aside from their Official On-Line Store which is the by-far the safest, offering a full Month return policy, they will NOT sell widely as much as preceding iPhones nor iPads . instead at selective branches (meaning : not all branches of certain ReSeller Shops will sell them but only a very few percentage) with a few high-end boutiques to sell their gold-plated Edition models – totalling about fifteen outlets throughout the Peninsula mostly concentrated around Metropolitan SEOUL .
[ June 19 Friday Update ]
A good full Week to Official Release of the long-awaited Apple Watch onto South Korea : vendor location have been mapped on Apple Korea Official WebSite . all-the-while a couple of Premium ReSellers have been promoting their branches which will sell them – which are limited to a few each, totalling merely a dozen in all throughout the Peninsula – mostly concentrated around Metropolitan SEOUL, which include its satellite cities . main branches of some of these ReSellers are opening early on June 26 Friday and giving out Sports Bands to the first two-dozen arrivals . Mapped locations going geographically from North-West and clock-wise :
( June 23 Tuesday D-3 ) following revealed and/or announced today :
- Frisbee Korea : HongDae Branch seem to have received early reservation last Week, ONLY to stop now but those who did seem to have it in effect – it was a loose and easy reservation that the Branch would simply phone-message them when theirs is available .
- alike neighboring Japan : Apple took-in the aid of haute-designer-brand boutique Boon The Shop to sell their top-of-the-line Edition models, in their effort to make it look like it will compete along presigeous Swiss watches . they will open early 7am on June 26 Friday and will give-out an extra band to the first 26 buyers of any model .
( D-Day Dawn ) only a handful of Milanese Loop nor Link Bracelets may have landed on this shipment, as some reveal this to those arriving early in line ..
( D-Day Afternoon ) larger branches on the street where awaiting customers would be subject to continuing rain : handed-out queue numbers late evening last night or from 3am and some 5am . while handing-out some Apple ReSeller clerks inquired which model those awaiting wanted, and to gather-up these feed-back : it seems only a handful of Milanese Loop and Link Bracelet have landed on the Peninsula, as some did NOT have any . those who received numbers were told to come back in-queue an hour before early-opening hours usually 7am or 10am depending upon the branch . as business hours began, some remote smaller branches were already out-of-stock . with two interesting contrasts :
- The Press gathered and the first Official iPhone Premium ReSeller Branch at Frisbee Korea MyeongDong, so-much-so that allmost 70% was crowded with mass media at opening hour .
- many had high-hopes for extravagant boutigue run by South Korea’s shopping conglomerate ShinSeGae : Boon The Shop, as they were newly added to Apple sales-point in view of the more expensive Edition Line . but even before opening hours : words spread onto On-Line mobile electronics communities as “Hell-Gate”, as they did not seem to how to handle this type of manic situation for they normally are used to nobility solemnly shopping upon the clouds . noteably : they initially said they had enough models in-stock, only to find later they did not have but only a few of the most basic models . AND crowded .
- the winner by-far this historical day is A#Shop under-ground COEX Exhibition Complex at the South-Eastern corner of GangNam . it was in-doors so early arrived had enough shelter from rain, and only about a dozen was waiting at opening hour . to top it off : they had much lesser visitors and quite a variety of models – remains the same mid-afternoon .
so by noon : it was evident the shipment to South Korea was coming from the same source and NOT a new line, as the available models were almost the same – 38mm Sports Band, while 42mm Stainless Steel harder to find and Milanese Loop and Link Bracelets non-existent -_-
( Apple Korea On-Line Store ) changed all-that, for when they opened around 2:05pm most models including watch-bands were to ship within a few days, with the exeption of Black Link Bracelet which would take around two Weeks – still faster than other countries which released it even two Months ago //
( D＋2 Saturday ) it seems all models except Black Link Bracelet (still to be shipped in a Week or two) were already in South Korea awaiting label printing, as Sports models’ order status were changed to ‘SHIPPED’ by the nex day . Stainless Steel models are still on “Awaiting Shipping” status . Apple delivers within South Korea by either DHL or TNT, while even hiring Korea Post Office or local next-day delivery courier service in conjuction at the height of frieight operations .
(’tis TEN Days to Christmas 2015 AND D-3 to Star Wars – The Force Awakens) How Apple products have now seeped deep into Korean retail market . Shopping conglomerate Lotte has joined with their hundred-strong H-Mart chains, as well as Willis ReSellers in their department stores and Neptune in their malls . plus A-Shop ReSellers are dug-in in competing HyunDai Department Stores . noteably : Apple Watch Sports and Stainless versions are selling at a tiny W20,000 discount at ShinSeGae conglomerate-operated eMart chains (ONLY 38mm available on the classy Millennium Loop though).
[ RELATED LINKS ] mostly in Korean
- 15.6.19 Apple ReSeller Directory ≫LiNK≪
- Frisbee ReSeller Branch List ≫LiNK≪
- Willy’s ReSeller Branch List ≫LiNK≪
- The A#Shop ReSeller Branch List ≫LiNK≪
- Neptune ReSeller Branch List ≫LiNK≪
– Hi-Ho~ Silver, Away ~ Korea Tech BLog –
