Chinese online sellers tout 'special' iPhone 6 editions, but they don't exist

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Chinese online sellers tout 'special' iPhone 6 editions, but they don't exist

PUBLISHED : Friday, 12 September, 2014, 5:52am
UPDATED : Friday, 12 September, 2014, 10:07am

Keira Lu Huang and Sophie Yu



An Apple store in Hefei. Apple has not yet confirmed when the new iPhones will be released on the mainland.

Exploiting mainland consumers' eagerness for the latest iPhones, unscrupulous online merchants are claiming that not only can they source the trendy devices, they even have access to a "special Macau edition".

Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available not only in silver, gold and space grey - as the tech giant's CEO Tim Cook told the world this week - there are also special customised editions available in pink, yellow, blue and other colours, one mainland online vendor has claimed.

"It is a version available only in Macau," claims the vendor, which has had a presence on online retail platform Taobao.com for more than seven years.

An Apple customer service employee dismissed such claims. The only customisation Apple offered was to expand the internal memory, she said.

While mainland China is Apple's second-largest market, it will not be among the first places to see the new iPhones, which go on sale in Hong Kong and eight other markets next week. Apple has not confirmed when they will be released on the mainland, though it had previously said on its website that it would be on September 26. The date was removed from Apple's website this week without explanation.

The apparent snub has irked consumers on the mainland.

Those eager to get an iPhone 6 early are turning to online stores. According to the outlet on Taobao, the "special Macau edition" will cost 1,000 yuan more than the "normal" version. Despite the hefty 3,888 yuan pre-order charge, the shop has received more than 20,000 inquiries since Wednesday and 168 customers have made deposits.

"We can't buy the iPhone 6 on the mainland now … but I can buy one from this shop, and it's pink! I just hope it's not fake." Gan Lin, one of the shop's potential customers, said.

Mobile service providers on the mainland have also been left frustrated by Apple's sales strategy. "Apple hasn't provided any explanation." said China Unicom spokesman Zhou Xiaoke.

Xiang Ligang, chief executive at telecommunications industry portal cctime.com, who works closely with China Mobile, said the delay could cost the carriers hundreds of millions of yuan.

"Apple had promised China's three major carriers [China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom] the new phones would be launched in China at the same time as elsewhere," he said. "The carriers have spent hundreds of millions of yuan on advertising."

In May, China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua said the company would "absolutely be among the first batch of carriers" to sell the iPhone 6.

"After this incident, Apple's credibility may suffer among carriers … But that doesn't mean they won't work with Apple in the future," Xiang said. "Apple is still a very important company [to them]."





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