Gold iPhone 5S Runs Out in Asia

[dgstorm]

It looks like folks in Asian countries really like the "bling." A report from this morning indicates that the gold version of the iPhone 5S already completely sold out throughout Asia. It looks like a combination of two factors led to this event. First, Apple underestimated just how many folks would want to grab the iPhone 5S compared to the iPhone 5C. Second, people really like the gold colored iPhone 5S. This extra popularity was on display from China to Australia. Here's a quote to explain,

In Australia and China, online Apple Store shipping times for the iPhone 5s rapidly slipped to 7–10 days for all colors and capacities, with immediate unavailability of the 64GB gold version. Apple’s Hong Kong and Singapore online stores have even longer waiting times, displaying an October shipping estimate for all iPhone 5s models.

Of course, there is one other possibility. This could be a crafty marketing ploy from Apple. Perhaps they knew the gold iPhone 5S would be very popular, so they are purposefully holding back on the shipments of the device to create a larger consumer frenzy. If something is rare and exclusive, it makes people just want it all the more.

If it was planned, we can't really blame Apple, and really should applaud them for their cleverness. What do you think? Is the gold iPhone 5S shortage planned or accidental?

Source: Yahoo!