Ooredoo first to launch iPhone 7 in Maldives

Apple’s latest smartphones, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, were officially launched in the Maldives early Thursday.

The first to release the iPhone 7 in the archipelago was telecom giant Ooredoo Maldives. While the launching was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning, a long queue of eager customers had formed in front of Ooredoo’s Experience Centre in capital Male an hour prior to the release with more coming in every minute. Some of the customers had camped outside the building as early as 3:00 a.m.

At the launching ceremony, Ooredoo had sold its first iPhone 7 to the company’s ambassador, Ali “Dhagandey” Ashfaq, legendary captain of the Maldives National Football Team.

Ooredoo had opened pre-orders for Apple’s latest volley on its website at 12:00 a.m. Thursday. Despite the lateness, the company has already received several orders for the iPhones, reported Ooredoo’s assistant manager public relations, Noora Ibrahim Zahir.

However, the company added that they will commence sales of Apple’s newest jet black iPhone only with the arrival of the second shipment.

Ooredoo has also kicked off a lucky draw on social media sites Facebook and Twitter to celebrate the occasion.

“We’ve posted a special picture on Ooredoo’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The winner, drawn from those that give a like to the picture and a comment explaining the advantage of purchasing the phone through Ooredoo, will receive a jet black iPhone 7,” explained Noora.

Ooredoo is also offering special packages to its postpaid and prepaid customers who purchase the latest iPhones. The packages include a full payment scheme and a monthly installment payment scheme of one year.

Meanwhile, local telecom network Dhiraagu will be releasing Apple’s latest smartphones Thursday night. Dhiraagu had opened pre-orders for iPhone 7 last week but subsequently halted orders as the demand surpassed the shipment currently available.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are supplied to the Maldives by Apple’s regional distributor and stockist Soft Touch. The company had earlier reported that the demand for iPhone 7 was so high that they had hiked up their stock by 120 percent.

Apple is introducing a range of brand new features with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus such as splash and water resistance, two camera lenses that shoot as one, stereo sound system and most notably, wireless earphones named AirPods. The new iPhones also have displays 25 percent brighter than the old model and more powerful and long-lasting batteries.