$54 Huawei Phone Was Allegedly ‘Sold Out’ Before Shops Open & The Police Has to be Called in to Help

By
George Yang
-
Advertisements
 

You’d have read about this everywhere you went in the last few days:

Image: Huawei

Yes, a smartphone that’s worth $198 is going at $54, because 54 is Singapore’s age come 9 August.

And it’s only for people who’re above 50 years old, because according to wise old men, they’re the ones who built our country to what it is today.

Advertisements
 

So basically, Huawei, whose US ban is most likely going to be lifted soon, promised that this promotion would be for three days: today, tomorrow (27 July) and Sunday (28 July).

Because weekends crowds, yo.

And they’ll be available in Huawei shops and several other retail chains like Courts.

Of course, note that many of them are in shopping malls, and most of them open at 11:00 a.m.

Needless to say, we kiasu Singaporeans would queue there early in the morning because of the words “While Stocks Last”.

And queue they did.

Image: Facebook (Janice Lim)

Some of them were even there at 8:00 a.m.

Image: Facebook (Aaron Lau)

But according to netizens, when they were there, they were greeted with this:

Advertisements
 
Image: Hardwarezone Forums

Wait, the promotion’s supposed to start today, and some of the shops are open at 11:00 a.m…

How the heck can they be sold out?

Image: gifpy

Well, some managed to talk to the staff, and they allegedly claimed that there were just a few units up for grabs.

Image: Hardwarezone Forums

According to my colleague, there was a crowd outside a Huawei shop and they were not just angry: they were combative.

I mean, I would, too, if I’m 55 years old and queued for hours only to realise it’s not available.

Advertisements
 

At 10:31 a.m., Huawei posted this on their Facebook Page:


Now, if you can’t read the captions, here’s the shocker they’ve posted as an update:

[11:03AM] We have been advised to close the Tampines Mall outlet (Tampines Mall, 4 Tampines Central 5, #04-03) for security reasons. Please bear with us while we work with the Singapore Police Force to manage the crowd situation.

As mentioned earlier, unconfirmed eyewitnesses have seen people getting confrontational, which could explain why they had to close an outlet for…security reasons.

Well, let’s just say that while Huawei’s nightmare about the US ban is history, this latest PR crisis might just create another dent in their branding.

Advertisements
 

These five GRCs could see the tightest battle in GE2025; here’s why:

Read Also:


 
George Yang
Email: [email protected]