arrival duty free

Can I buy an iPhone in Duty Free?

One of the most requested item for travellers concerns Apple's iPhone. The original iPhone was launched in June 2007 with the 5th generation, the iPhone 4S, launched in October 2011 - some 183.2 million handsets sold up until the end of the first quarter of 2012.

So why are Apple products not seen widely throughout the world in Duty Free retail outlets?

Well there are numerous reasons for this -

• Such is the demand for iPhones, Apple have to limit the number of countries they can launch into. Therefore duty free is not top priority.
• Most phones are sold with a SIM lock which restricts the use of the phone to one particular carrier, a common practice with subsidized GSM phones. Unlike most GSM phones however, the phone cannot be officially unlocked by entering a code. The locked / unlocked state is maintained on Apple's servers per IMEI and is set when the iPhone is activated.
• Apple's favoured method of distribution is via exclusive contracts with country operators so customers have to buy into a contract with the provider. Since duty free retailers cannot offer a phone air time contract and would be selling to customers leaving the country this would take the retailers outside of the Apple model of distribution.

However, with Apple having some of the hottest electronic items in the world with the iPhone, iPad, iMac, some of the larger international duty free operators have stocks which prove popular as the prices are usually below the normal prices on the domestic market.