- Title: CHINA: Smuggled iPhone 6 hits Beijing black market
- Date: 19th September 2014
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (SEPTEMBER 19, 2014) (REUTERS) HONG KONG STREET WHERE BLACK MARKET IPHONES BEING SOLD VARIOUS OF MAN AND GIRL CONDUCTING IPHONE SALE SELLER TAKING OUT IPHONE FROM BAG AND OFFERING IT TO BUYER SELLERS STANDING IN GROUPS HOLDING STACKS OF MONEY BEIJING, CHINA (SEPTEMBER 19, 2014) (REUTERS) TRAFFIC AROUND ZHONGGUANCUN STREET SIGN READING (Chinese/English): "ZHONGGUANCUN ST" PEOPLE WALKING IN AND OUT OF ENTRANCE TO MOBILE PHONE MARKET PEOPLE WALKING BY BOOTHS IN MOBILE PHONE MARKET STORE THAT SELLS SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 MODELS OF IPHONE 6 ON DISPLAY AT STORE THAT SELLS SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 APPLE LOGO ON IPHONE 6 MODEL ON DISPLAY CUSTOMER AT SALES COUNTER PEOPLE WALKING IN FRONT OF APPLE SPECIALITY STORE WHICH SELLS SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 ADVERTISEMENT IN FRONT OF APPLE SPECIALITY STORE SELLING SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 FOR IPHONE 6 PEOPLE WALKING BY STORE WHICH SELLS SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 IPHONE 6 MODELS ON DISPLAY IN FRONT OF STORE WHICH SELLS SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 SPINNING IPHONE 6 ON DISPLAY AT STORE WHICH SELLS SMUGGLED IPHONE 6 MERCHANTS PUSHING CART CARRYING ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS OUTSIDE MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 25 YEAR-OLD CELL PHONE DEALER FROM HEBEI PROVINCE, ZHANG YUJI, SAYING: "I would definitely not buy one. I think the price is too high. Also, isn't it illegal? It's not by the book. And in case you run into some sort of problems, where will you go to defend your (legal) rights, right?" TRAFFIC AND PEDESTRIANS PASSING
- Embargoed: 4th October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- City:
- Country: China
- Topics: Crime,Technology
- Reuters ID: LVAE1UKHQ5FFVZUPPWNKK5DMYE0E
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: The new iPhone 6, fresh out of the stores in Hong Kong was already making its way to Beijing on Friday (September 19), despite the fact that the phone has yet to be cleared for sale on the mainland.
In Hong Kong, black market traders were busy conducting buying up iPhone 6s bought from Apple Stores in the city for transit to the rest of China.
At around the same time in Beijing, mobile phone dealers were already selling the new model.
At least ten smart phone dealers in the Zhongguancun tech village, where a number of small-scale mobile phone sellers have their shops, confirmed to Reuters that they were selling smuggled versions of the iPhone 6, most of which had arrived on Thursday (September 18) evening.
Most merchants who spoke to Reuters said that the phones were not obtained by legal means.
The cheapest price merchants in Zhongguancun offered for an iPhone 6 was 9000 Yuan (1465.94 USD) while the most expensive was 16000 Yuan (2606.6 USD). Most merchants said that they were selling iPhones originally purchased in Hong Kong or Canada. Several merchants said that they expected hundreds of models to come in now that sales had begun in Hong Kong on Friday.
Although advertisements for the iPhone 6 as well as models on display could be seen around many Zhongguancun smart phone specialty shops, merchants refused to let buyers see the actual product before a monetary exchange took place.
Apple Inc is still awaiting a critical license from Chinese regulators before it can sell its new iPhone 6 in one of the company's most important markets.
The official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday that Apple's new iPhone had been given regulatory approval for use on domestic frequencies, but the phone cannot be sold in China until a key network license is granted. The Xinhua report did not indicate when this is likely to happen. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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