Vietnamese shoppers get tens of thousands of iPhone 18 series devices in 3 days

The market remained busy on Saturday and Sunday, with customers visiting major retail chains in Ho Chi Minh City to collect their devices, try out the new models and trade in old phones, although demand for deliveries peaked on Friday, the first day of sales.

CellphoneS said it had received nearly 50,000 pre-orders by the end of the pre-order period, more than three times the figure recorded during the same period last year.

More than 180 CellphoneS stores nationwide began handing over the devices on Friday.

To handle the large volume of orders, the retailer said it delivered devices according to customers’ deposit order numbers and limited each customer to a maximum of two Pro or Pro Max units to prevent speculation and bulk buying.

At FPT Shop, sales of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max grew by more than 30 percent compared with their predecessors, said Nguyen Nhu Thanh, deputy director of the retailer’s Apple product division.

Thanh said the number of customers collecting their devices on the second day was about 50 percent of the first day, as most early pre-order customers had already received their phones.

However, interest in the new lineup and additional orders for subsequent delivery batches remained stable, he said.

Other retailers also reported strong demand.

Minh Tuan Mobile handed over 1,090 devices on the first day of sales, more than twice its initial target of 500 gadgets, bringing the total number of handsets delivered during the first two days to nearly 1,700.

At 24hStore, nearly 700 Pro and Pro Max units had been activated, checked, and handed over to customers within the retailer’s operating capacity.

The iPhone 18 Pro Max remained the most sought-after model, while the new Burgundy Red and Ice Blue color options quickly drew strong interest, according to retailers.

Di Dong Viet said Ice Blue had become particularly popular after its launch, attracting significantly more interest in both the Pro and Pro Max models than during the pre-order period.

The retailer has set up dedicated experience areas at major shopping centers, including Gigamall in Ho Chi Minh City, allowing customers to see the colors and features in person before deciding whether to buy.

Retailers are expected to bring in additional batches after the peak delivery period during the first three days to meet demand from customers who did not place pre-orders in the initial round.

Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max on September 9, with pre-orders opening on September 12. 

The two models officially went on sale in Vietnam and other first-wave markets on September 18, making Vietnam one of the countries to receive the new iPhones at launch.