Despite yet to get an official launch date for the iPhone 5 in China grey market stores across Shenzhen are already accepting orders for the next generation iPhone, but prices aren’t as hot they were just 6 days ago!
On the 12th September Tim Cook took the stage to announce the iPhone 5, and not one person was surprised! We had all seen the leaked photos, images and components for month, there were even fake iPhone 5’s on sale before the real thing came out!
Following the launch of the iPhone 5 and news that it would launch in stores across the world on 21st September grey market sellers in China announced that they would also be selling the iPhone 5 on launch day but at a much inflated $1500 price tag.
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Since then though the number of potential iPhone 5 customers has been considerably less than these Apple smugglers had planned for and now the prices have dropped to 6000 Yuan which is roughly $1000!
The iPhone 5 will go on sale in Hong Kong on 21st September where most of the smuggled iPhone 5’s will be coming from but sold at the much lower price of $750, and it would actually make more financial sense for Chinese mainlanders to jump on the ferry to Hong Kong and pick the new iPhone 5 up for themselves rather than pay someone to smuggle it.
It is expected that the iPhone 5 won’t be as such a hot seller as the iPhone 4 was when it hit Chinese stores a few years ago to riots and violence, and many Chinese phone buyers are more interested in picking up a new Window’s 8 phone or a high-end Android device which usually cost much less.
