Apple Suspends iPhone 4S Sales in Mainland China Stores

[n2doc]

By SHARON LaFRANIERE
Published: January 13, 2012

BEIJING — The introduction of the Apple iPhone 4S in Beijing turned ugly Friday morning when the company’s flagship store failed to open as promised and a frustrated crowd reacted by pelting its gleaming glass walls with eggs.

Carolyn Wu, an Apple spokeswoman, said that because of the incident, the company will suspend iPhone 4S sales in its mainland China stores to protect its employees and customers, The Associated Press reported. Ms. Wu said the store in Beijing’s trendy Sanlitun district could not open Friday morning because of the crowd outside.

Hundreds of people who had waited overnight in freezing temperatures reacted furiously when an employee announced over a bullhorn shortly after 7 a.m. that the phone would not be sold that day. Police encouraged the crowd to disperse and temporarily cordoned off the store.

It was the second time in less than a year that the Sanlitun store had been forced to temporarily close while trying to offer a new product. In May, four people were injured and a glass door was smashed when a crowd waiting to buy the iPad 2 turned disorderly, according to China Daily.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/technology/apple-suspends-iphone-4s-sales-in-mainland-china-stores.html?_r=1&hp

[woodsprite]

1. It makes no sense for them to act that way.

But similar runs on products seem to be going on around here. I've been at our local mall (Christiana Mall) and seen a line at the Apple store that goes down and around the bend and across the aisle and down a portion of another hallway. I thought it was just the Christmas rush, but my friend said she and her husband are there at least every Mon, Wed, and Fri before the rest of the mall opens. She said they're there every day with mall security guards watching over the crowd. Everyone in line appears to be Asian. She was wondering if people were being bussed around to the various Apple stores (from Philadelphia or NY) to buy the products to be sold on the street, or on ebay.