It has been a year of ups and downs for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in China. On the financial side, Apple did quite well with China accounting for 16 percent of its revenue for the quarter ending in September. The company had new stores open in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which was also reason to Apple fans in China to celebrate. Overall the nation’s passion for all thing Apple was certainly a positive. But there were a few individuals in China this year who put Apple in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Here’s a quick look back at five of the more remarkable ones that we covered this year:
1. Chinese Teen Girl Offers Virginity for White iPhone 
Back in June, a girl was caught offering up her virginity on Sina Weibo in exchange for a white iPhone 4. She made her QQ number available, so that any prospective ‘buyers’ could get in touch, so to speak. You can read the full story here, which includes a short video news report.
Amazingly a similar story emerged back in October of a girl who would go even further than that. According to the Baidu Beat blog, a certain young man discovered his girlfriend’s chat history in which she offered to sleep with a stranger for six months if he would give her an iPhone up front!
2. Chinese Boy Sells Kidney to Buy iPad, Now Regrets It
And if you thought that those girls couldn’t be topped, think again. A misguided 17-year-old fanboy from Anhui province with his eyes set on an iPad 2 decided to sell one of his kidneys in order to fund the purchase. He traveled to a neighboring city where he had the procedure done, and then was paid 22,000 yuan (or about $3500).
It’s a sad story, because this guy is just a kid after all. We hope he’s doing ok. Read the full story and check the video news reports here.
3. Bored With Faking iPhones China Decides To Go Big: Fake Apple Stores
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
