Smuggled Iphones selling well in China
CHINESE phone smugglers are making a fortune flogging unlocked iPhones behind the bamboo curtain.
The sales are taking place mostly because Apple is unable to reach a deal on a lock-in arrangement with Chinese telecoms companies which satisfies the Cappuccino outfit's 'control issues'.
According to News.com the smuggling explains a huge gap between the 3.7 million phones that Apple thinks it sold and why there are only 2.3 million that are actually registered on the networks of its wireless partners in the United States and Europe.
News.com thinks that tourists, small entrepreneurs, and smugglers of electronic goods have been buying iPhones in the United States and then shipping them overseas where the digital locks are broken so they can work on local mobile networks.
Chinese sellers of iPhones get the phones from suppliers who buy them in the United States, then have them shipped or brought to China by airline passengers.
Chinese tourist groups or airline flight attendants get paid $30 for every phone they smuggle in. The retailers make about $200 on the deal.
More here. µ
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I've never owned a cell phone. But, the idea that you can not only be locked in to a network, but the cell phone maker gets to choose the network, is not something I'd want to participate in.

The Iphone has obviously changed the industry, possibly for the better. The network lock-in idea...not so much.

I bought my 2 ipods before I realized how truly powerful the Internet was for empowering consumers. Apple is great for consumers. Ironically, it's not so great for idiots with low self-esteem and/or market savvy.