UAE retailers cut SIM to fit into iPhone5

• Image Credit: Reuters
• An Apple iPhone 5 phone is displayed in the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York.

Dubai: Some retailers who are making a killing in iPhone 5 sales, are also offering buyers in the UAE the additional service of cutting micro-SIM to fit into the new smartphone’s nano-SIM slot, Gulf News has learnt.

The iPhone 5 connects to the local networks via a nano-SIM, which is smaller than the standard-sized SIMs used in most mobile phones and even smaller than the micro-SIM used in other Apple products.

Buyers are at the mercy of the retailers to cut their existing micro-SIM to fit into the iPhone 5, which is yet unavailable in the UAE. Etisalat and du are expected to issue the real nano SIMs when the iPhone 5 is launched in the UAE.

“I believe the retailers have certain tools that enable them to cut the micro-SIM to fit into the nano-SIM slot and help them use the new smartphone,” Mohammad Sadiq, director of UK-based Siasa Telecom, told Gulf News. His company has imported two shipments of iPhone 5 into the UAE. His company is selling Apple’s latest device for Dh3,400 to Dh3,800 to retailers.