Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) A man who was first in line to buy an iPhone XS Max when the new model went on sale in Taiwan Friday said he had queued up for about 91 hours before the telecom store in Taipei opened at 8 a.m.

Identifying himself only as Mike, the man said he bought a gold iPhone XS Max 256G, paying around NT$30,000 (US$976) at a Chunghwa Telecom Co. store as part of a monthly subscription plan for the model that carries a standalone price tag of NT$45,500.

"Although iPhones are more expensive than other brands, I think they are worth it," said Mike, who has owned two earlier models. "I'm excited to be first in line today."

He said he started queuing up around 1 p.m. Monday in front of the flagship Chunghwa Telecom store in Xinyi District in downtown Taipei and had stocked up with more than 10 power banks to keep his phone running during the 91-hour wait for the new iPhones to go on sale.

At other telecom stores in the Xinyi business district, more than 100 Apple fans were also waiting in line ahead of the 8 a.m. opening time.

A man surnamed Chiu said he had been queuing up for about 40 hours in front of a Far EasTone Telecommunications store to buy a new iPhone.

At a Taiwan Mobile store in the area, a woman surnamed Chen who was first in line, said she has been buying iPhones for the past nine years.

The major telecom companies in Taiwan are offering incentives such as coupons, gifts and cash rebates to buyers of the three new iPhone models that were unveiled by Apple on Sept. 12.

Global sales began Friday of the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone XS Max at a starting price of NT$39,900 and the 5.8-inch OLED iPhone XS at NT$35,900 in Taiwan.

The 6.1-inch LCD iPhone XR is scheduled to be released in October at a starting price of NT$26,900 here.

(By Jiang Ming-yan and Frances Huang)
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