Midnight green version of iPhone 11 Pro series facing a shortage

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) The midnight green version of new iPhone 11 smartphones is facing a shortage in Taiwan's market because of strong consumer interest in the color, which is being used for Apple smartphones for the first time, distributors said Friday.

The midnight green version of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max have accounted for about half of all orders placed for the two models thus far, but less than half of the midnight green orders have been filled, according to distributors.

They said two shipments of the new iPhones have arrived in Taiwan and the next one is not expected until around Oct. 10, meaning the shortage will continue until then or even longer depending on how many midnight green models are in that shipment.

Apple unveiled the new iPhones -- high-end models iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max and the cheaper iPhone 11 -- to replace the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, which were launched in September 2018.

Taiwan is one of the markets included in the first round of global sales that began on Sept. 20.

The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are offered in midnight green, silver, space gray, and gold, while the iPhone 11 is available in purple, yellow, green, black, white and red.

The 5.8-inch Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) iPhone 11 Pro, featuring Apple's new triple camera lenses, carries a starting price of NT$35,900 (US$1,158), while the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone 11 Pro Max model sells at a base price of NT$39,900, according to the Apple Taiwan website.

The more affordable 6.1-inch LCD iPhone 11 starts at NT$24,900, NT$2,000 cheaper than its predecessor, the iPhone XR.

As for the cheaper iPhone 11 series, distributors said, the green and purple versions have been the most popular among the iPhone 11 models.

The more affordable iPhone 11 has accounted for 44 percent of Taiwan Mobile's new iPhone sales since Sept. 20, followed by the iPhone 11 Pro Max (33 percent) and the iPhone 11 Pro (23 percent), according to distributors.

The iPhone 11 has also made up more than 40 percent of the sales of rival telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom Co., distributors said, indicating that Apple's strategy to price the iPhone 11 lower than its predecessor iPhone XR is paying off.

Due to its affordability, the iPhone 11 sales momentum is expected to continue, even if the new iPhone 11 series does not have 5G technology functions.