Despite Their $2,000 Price Tags, Hong Kong Is Hung Up on Cellular Telephones

The rage of Hong Kong these days is easy to spot. Just look for the tiny antennas, the telltale sign of the portable telephones so many people are carrying wherever they go.

Despite price tags of $2,000 or more, the hand-held telephones have become a huge hit in this British colony, where doing business is a 24-hour preoccupation and new status symbols are always in demand.

Downtown streets are filled with professionals ready for business, with the cellular phones tucked under their arms or stuffed, antenna-up, into briefcases.

Constant Chatting

Away from the financial district, people can be seen barking into the phones while eating in restaurants, riding public buses and ferries, and sitting in darkened movie theaters. Everyone from executives to proprietors of produce stalls can be seen chatting away.

The Hong Kong Standard newspaper spotted a telephone in a recent 62-mile charity walk along a rural trail.

“In driving rain and a lashing wind, a young man was spotted eagerly and conspicuously talking into his mobile telephone,” it said.

“In a more normal society one would expect (him) to hand the phone over to one of his seconds before starting the race. (But) a few kilometers down the track, the young man was spotted merrily informing the financial markets at large of his continued existence.”

60,000 Units Projected

The government estimates that about 60,000 portable cellular telephones--roughly six times earlier projections--will be in use by the end of the year in this territory of 5.7 million people, said Deputy Postmaster General Henry Wise, whose department is in charge of telecommunications.

While most cellular telephones sold in other countries are for use in cars, roughly three-fourths of the units sold in Hong Kong since the market opened three years ago have been the more expensive hand-held models.

“We were amazed when the whole thing really took off in a great way,” Wise said.

Hutchison Telephone Co., which has sold about 26,000 cellular telephones, recently stopped sales for six weeks because demand was outpacing the company’s capacity to handle all the calls.

‘Caught by Surprise’

“The market just caught everybody by surprise,” said Peter Grant, president of China Telephone Co. Ltd., a rival firm. “We’re all frantically rebuilding networks,”

Harry Hui, a psychology lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, attributed the popularity of the telephones in part to “the importance of face. It’s a status symbol.”

Wise, on the other hand, believes that the Hong Kong work ethic of doing business whenever and wherever possible is largely responsible for the tremendous sales.

“Virtually the whole day is part of the working day,” he said.

Irritating to Some

Although industry officials see no end in sight to demand for the telephones, their indiscriminate use in public places already is viewed as an irritation by some.

“People are becoming aware of the annoyance factor,” Grant acknowledged.

Several exclusive clubs demand that their patrons and guests check their telephones at the door.