Apple said in a statement that it had temporarily suspended sales of all iPhones at its five mainland China stores out of concern for the safety of customers and employees. The phones will still be offered online, through Apple’s official partner, Unicom, and at authorized resellers. The statement did not say when Apple stores would resume selling the iPhone 4S.
Demand for iPhones in China far exceeds supply, which has spawned an army of scalpers who hire migrant workers to snap up products that the scalpers then resell at much higher prices.
The horde of more than 1,000 people who gathered outside the store Friday in the Sanlitun district of Beijing included organized teams of migrant workers, identifiable by matching armbands or hats. Some of the migrant workers said they were bused in and promised payment of 100 renminbi, or about $16, for purchasing a phone.
Wary of unrest, police ordered the store not to open, according to one source familiar with the situation. Furious, some would-be customers threw eggs. Police dispersed the crowd and temporarily cordoned off the store.
Those recruited by scalpers were particularly angry. Some said the store’s closing meant that they would get only 10 renminbi, meant as a food allowance, after standing in line all night in freezing temperatures.
It was the second time in less than a year that the Sanlitun store had been forced to temporarily close while trying to offer a new product. In May, four people were injured and a glass door was smashed when a crowd waiting to buy the iPad 2 turned disorderly, according to China Daily.
At Apple’s other Beijing store and three stores in Shanghai, the iPhone 4S sold out quickly, leaving some disappointed, but with no reports of incidents.
China is Apple’s fastest-growing market: with just five of the company’s stores, it accounts for one-sixth of its global sales. Timothy D. Cook, chief executive of Apple, said last week that “customer response to our products in China has been off the charts.”
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=578bde4668b3b545eb3d206dd2378809
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