Apple Suspends iPhone 4S Sales in Mainland China Stores

Carolyn Wu, an Apple spokeswoman, said that because of the incident, the company will suspend iPhone 4S sales in its mainland China stores to protect its employees and customers, The Associated Press reported. Ms. Wu said the store in Beijing’s trendy Sanlitun district could not open Friday morning because of the crowd outside.

Hundreds of people who had waited overnight in freezing temperatures reacted furiously when an employee announced over a bullhorn shortly after 7 a.m. that the phone would not be sold that day. Police encouraged the crowd to disperse and temporarily cordoned off the store.

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.

Apple has struggled in China to protect itself from hoards of scalpers who snap up its inventory and re-sell the products at jacked-up prices. The crowd outside the Sanlitun store Friday included organized units of 30-50 migrant workers, distinguishable by symbols like colored arm bands, who had been bussed in by resellers.

Some told reporters that the store’s decision to close meant they would not be collect more than ten renminbi, or about $1.58, given as a food allowance.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/technology/apple-suspends-iphone-4s-sales-in-mainland-china-stores.html?partner=rss&emc=rss