iPhone 5S reservations almost sold out in Beijing, Hong Kong

Reservations for most flavors of the 5S have already been snagged soon after going live, with only the 16GB "space gray" version still available.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer

Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.

See full bio

Lance Whitney

Sept. 17, 2013 5:48 a.m. PT

Reservations for the unlocked version of Apple's iPhone 5S just went live in China, and most of them are already sold out.

The gold iPhone 5S has been the most popular version, according to a report from Chinese news site Sina Tech. Reservations for that model sold out at two Apple stores in Beijing just a couple of hours after they launched on Tuesday, September 17, local Beijing time, noted AppleInsider.

As of now, only reservations for the unlocked 16GB "space gray" iPhone 5s appear to still be up for grabs in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Reservations are slightly different from preorders. A reservation doesn't require any money up front but does promise you a spot at your local Apple store where you can pay for and pick up your phone. Apple set up the reservation system for Chinese consumers to smack down scalpers who buy up supplies of new phones and resell them at a profit.

Both the iPhone 5C and 5S will hit store shelves in China, the US, and other countries on Friday.