iPhone release (and delay): Big business for Chinese smugglers

The iPhone 6 became available for pre-order on Apple’s online store Friday morning — though “available” is a relative term. The iPhone 6 Plus was delayed by three to four weeks for all colors, carriers, and storage capacities. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is set to ship within seven to 10 business days, which just about lines up with the iPhone’s official in-store launch scheduled for Sept. 19.

I’m worried about getting enough iPhones to resell. Orders have doubled compared to last year.

Gary Yiu, a salesperson at I Generation in Sin Tat Plaza in Mong Kok, Hong Kong’s electronics hub

In the world’s largest smartphone market, China, pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sold out within two hours on Apple’s Hong Kong website - and many of those devices will be smuggled across the border into mainland China, where they could change hands for as much as four times the Hong Kong price. In Shenzhen, across the Chinese border from Hong Kong, the asking price for the cheapest iPhone 6 model hit 20,000 yuan ($3,260), while a salesperson at a telecoms shop in Shanghai said his company had sent staff to Hong Kong, Japan and even the United States to buy the new models and get them back to China for sale.

It’s all about luck. I kept refreshing. My F5 button almost broke.

Danny Lam, 28-year-old

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