iPhone 5 Launches in Indonesia, Met With Queues and Contests

The iPhone 5 is finally launched today in Indonesia. Now, the phone can be ordered nationwide through its three carrier partners, Telkomsel, XL Axiata, and Indosat. It’s also for sale through other vendors including Lazada, Rakuten, and BliBli.

Telkomsel was the first carrier to open online pre-orders in Indonesia, and although its carrier packages are the most expensive in the country, the company was still able to sell out its 2,000 handsets during pre-orders. Today’s launch in Gandaria City mall was mostly for the 300 invited customers who had bought the phones online:

XL Axiata was the only carrier that did not start online pre-orders for the iPhone 5, instead the company held its ‘Antri Like a King’ program which promised comforts and conveniences for its queuing customers at two malls – Central Park and Senayan City. Interestingly, XL Axiata offered generous discounts of 50 percent and IDR 1.5 million ($156) to the first 50 and 100 customers respectively at each mall. XL Axiata might be the carrier that managed to gather the largest crowd:

Queue at Senayan City Mall

Crowd that are waiting for the Central Park Mall to open

Indosat was the only carrier that held its launch away from any malls, focusing on two Seven Eleven stores in Jakarta. Indonesia’s Seven Elevens are popular among teenagers as late-night hang-out places, and the two selected places became more crowded particularly during midnight. Indosat’s iPhone 5 launch offered discounts between IDR 1 million ($104) to IDR 2 million ($208), but still that wasn’t enough to spark the kind of big-bang launch seen by its two rivals.