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Tough nuts to all those Chinese iPhone smugglers

The smugglers were trying to sell the iPhone 6 low end model for $1500 and they're not getting bites. They were forced to lower the price to $1000.

For a 2 week advantage, many consumers would rather wait than pay exorbitant prices. If there was a longer wait, or this was the first iPhone in China, it might be different.
 
Reading the article , geez there is a nice mark up, Even after the discounts they are running :)

Be interesting to find out where all these phones are going, while china is one, Ebay, or other countries is also viable.
 
Well pretty much the entire population of China was in line here in NYC last week, then they flew back to China to sell each other the phones they all just bought. Not too bright.

Sadly, this will probably make the next major launch day even more painful, as instead of just trying to figure out a completely different way to make a fast buck, they will merely double their efforts to get the phones back to China as quickly as possible, before the next guy.
 
1968 said:
Well pretty much the entire population of China was in line here in NYC last week, then they flew back to China to sell each other the phones they all just bought. Not too bright.
Click to expand...

You just gave me the horrors picturing the entire population of China suddenly teleported into NYC! :eek: that's a lotta people!
 
There is no such thing as black market for iPhone. This isn't a rifle or exotic animal. It was just small electronic stores reselling them openly. Also, Chinese mafia is not involved.
 
While it's a shameful practice, I can't say I blame them for striking where the iron's hot. For years people have been willing to pay the exorbitant ebay prices from the smugglers and campers but I guess most people have wised up and learned to be patient. Best way to eliminate crap like this is don't get involved in the first place.
 
As long as all the old ladies that waited in line for days got their money, I'm happy. They put in the time and should not be punished.
 
Actually the old ladies were standing in line for pay. The rest of us idiots were standing in line to hand over large sum of money for a phone. Those old Chinese folks definitely weren't idiots.
 
Pretty sensationalist article if you ask me. It paints an Apple that is desperate to sell iPhones in China when that's certainly not the case. Even as the markup for smuggled iPhones drops, it still shows there is demand for the unreleased product at a premium. And in regards to the domestic competition Apple will be facing this generation, a lot has changed in the past few years. It's no secret that most people in China have no problem buying knockoffs and fake, but it also has a rapidly expanding upper class that has the money and desire for authentic, western products. And yes, that includes the latest iPhone.
 
1968 said:
Sadly, this will probably make the next major launch day even more painful, as instead of just trying to figure out a completely different way to make a fast buck, they will merely double their efforts to get the phones back to China as quickly as possible, before the next guy.
Click to expand...

Really? I would think the Chinese smugglers will now be wary of doing it again and the lines will be full of Apple diehards again
 
Apparently they do all kinds of things to try to disguise them crossing the border, like stuffing them into a box of tea. You know what's coming next. That's right, the old "iPhone in anal cavity" trick (better hope you didn't get hired to buy the Plus model!). And the inevitable related lawsuit and #WhateverGate: "Man's family sues Apple when iPhone explodes inside him."
 
i was insulted when some people use the word ' asian' instead of chinese on the previous thread about scalpers. now i hope they dont take all asian as scalpers, not all asian nation are as gree** as those we see in the applestore lines,and mostly asian countries are non-iphone user.
 
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