Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Now Requiring Reservations for iPhone Purchases in China

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,240
39,044



112352-iphone_4_reservation_selection_china.jpg


iPhone 4 reservation selection screen (Apple China)
As noted by M.I.C. gadget, Apple has once again tightened requirements for iPhone 4 purchases in its Chinese retail stores, now requiring that customers make reservations before visiting their stores to purchase the device. The change comes amid shortages of the iPhone 4 that have been accompanied by scalpers scooping up a significant portion of the available supply.
Here's how the new restrictions work: a customer needs to reserve an iPhone 4 online, choose the nearest retail store to pick up, and then Apple China offers the date and time for you to pick up. An email will be sent to customers after the reservation is successfully made. When a customer is picking up the iPhone 4 at the retail store, the name on the reservation must match the name on his/her ID exactly. Shoppers are reminded that they may purchase only one iPhone 4 each day.
Click to expand...
Apple deployed the one-per-person limit and ID requirement last week in order to address the scalping issue, but has apparently felt the need to go further in requiring reservations to limit the number of walk-in customers attempting to get their hands on the popular device.


112352-iphone_4_reservation_cart_china.jpg


Reservation "cart" for Sanlitun retail store (Apple China)
As confirmed by Macworld, Apple's Chinese retail stores are taking only a limited number of reservations per day, corresponding to the stock on hand at each location. Stocks at all four retail stores were sold out by late morning today, indicating that customers may now find themselves competing online for reservation spots until the supply crunch is alleviated.

Article Link: Apple Now Requiring Reservations for iPhone Purchases in China
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/08/apple-now-requiring-reservations-for-iphone-purchases-in-china/
can i use this here in the states on Verizon?

i have a friend that lives in china. Can i have him buy me an iPhone and send it over here to be used on the Verizon network? I thought i read somewhere that China's cell network was also CDMA.

total newb on wireless stuff so just a hypothetical question.
 
Couldn't they simply say "only one per person per day" and leave it at that?

My understanding is the scalper problem was because people were dropping into the stores and buying dozens of iPhones at a time.
 
I wonder if Apple is letting the Chinese buy the white version....oooohhh wait....it's STILL not available anywhere.

Hey Apple, how about telling everyone you're going to sell pink elephants.

iPhone 4 = one cluster***k after another

aye5882 said:
i have a friend that lives in china. Can i have him buy me an iPhone and send it over here to be used on the Verizon network? I thought i read somewhere that China's cell network was also CDMA.

total newb on wireless stuff so just a hypothetical question.
Click to expand...

No
 
Mini Ads

Are those mini ads for iPods selling at very low prices legit? Has anyone here actually purchased an iPod (or anything else) at a ridiculously low price?
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

@aye5882

There are both GSM and CDMA carriers in China. China Unicom the iPhone carrier in China is GSM..
 
Apple China is adopting socialist-style rationing. The Chinese should be okay with it, though, because that's how they used to get everything in their stores.

I am just dumbfounded why Apple cannot ratchet up the production of iPhones. Seems to me that Apple is missing out on a huge opportunity to take the lead in the race with Android.
 
roratus said:
I wonder if Apple is letting the Chinese buy the white version....oooohhh wait....it's STILL not available anywhere.

Hey Apple, how about telling everyone you're going to sell pink elephants.

iPhone 4 = one cluster***k after another
Click to expand...

That cluster***k seems to be selling really well.
 
As impressive as it is can we stop with the Chinese language here? If we can't I will use Google translation and add my two cents in Chinese. There are a ton of forums for Chinese language students, but last time I checked this isn't one of them.

Otherwise I am going to only answer in obscure haiku poems. I do realise that haiku aren't Chinese.
 
1 phone per person per day may slow down the scalpers, but it won't stop them. They'll just recruit others to go in and reserve/buy phones every day. What they need to do is start arresting people for scalping (unless it's legal over there?).
 
ryanwarsaw said:
As impressive as it is can we stop with the Chinese language here? If we can't I will use Google translation and add my two cents in Chinese. There are a ton of forums for Chinese language students, but last time I checked this isn't one of them.

Otherwise I am going to only answer in obscure haiku poems. I do realise that haiku aren't Chinese.
Click to expand...

I can see why you're so concerned, ryanwarsaw, given what they're saying about you behind your back...
 
ryanwarsaw said:
As impressive as it is can we stop with the Chinese language here? If we can't I will use Google translation and add my two cents in Chinese. There are a ton of forums for Chinese language students, but last time I checked this isn't one of them.

Otherwise I am going to only answer in obscure haiku poems. I do realise that haiku aren't Chinese.
Click to expand...

Clear Cascades
Into The Waves Scatter
Blue Pine Needles​
 
3N16MA said:
That cluster***k seems to be selling really well.
Click to expand...


Your point? I didn't say it was a bad product, I own an iphone 4 and love it (though I would rather have had white). My point is that the roll out has been one blunder after another: antenna issues (real or perceived), signal strength display issue, proximity sensor issues, shipping delays, glass issues (real or perceived), AND STILL NO WHITE model. And that doesn't include the issues with yellowing on the display caused by the binding of the display to the front glass that some buyers noticed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back