Most people (rightly or wrongly, I am making a statement, not a moral stand) have no problem buying and watching pirated DVD movies. Then there’s the legions of software sellers out front of Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen selling Windows 7, Adobe CS5 or Microsoft Office suites for only RMB10 each. People know the software and movies are pirated, but even if the DVD doesn’t work right or software doesn’t install, all you lose is 10 kuai.
But when you are laying down major cash, you mostly likely want the real deal – not some knockoff. That’s what’s been happening to people looking for Apple’s highly-in-demand white iPhone 4. Apple released these things in April, and they are still hard to find (kind of like the iPad 2). The only difference between the white iPhone and traditional black iPhone is…. the colour. So these things aren’t too hard to fake and then pass onto unsuspecting customers. The story is from the Shenzhen Daily:
ALTHOUGH authorized Apple dealers in Hong Kong and Shenzhen have been hard-pressed to keep up with demand for the iPhone 4 16G White since April, white iPhones were selling well in Huaqiangbei in Futian District. However, experts said most of these white iPhones were counterfeit models made in local workshops and some so-called copyrighted iPhone 4 16G White were actually copyrighted iPhone 4 Black in a white shell, yesterday’s Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
The official price for iPhone 4 16G White was 4,999 yuan (US$771), but could cost more at some shops because of “stock shortages.” A mainland copyrighted model was selling for about 6,000 yuan at a shop in Kingglory Plaza in Luohu District and more than 5,500 yuan at shops in Huaqiangbei.
Even some authorized Apple dealers required customers to buy accessories with the mobile phone.
Many of the so-called smuggled iPhones were counterfeit and the accessories were of poor quality, while some were black iPhones. “It costs 120 yuan to change black iPhones into white at Huaqiangbei, so many retailers change the shells because the white one costs about 1,000 yuan more,” an expert told the newspaper.
You know people have gone Apple crazy when they are paying 1,000 yuan more for a different colour phone. Nonetheless, if you want a white iPhone 4 that badly, make sure you get a legitimate one.