While Hong Kong got their Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4S on Singles Day (November 11, 2011), the rest of China as in the mainland was “supposed” to get their 8 GB model of the iPhone 4.
But in reports from The Beijing News over the past weekend (as cited by Xinhua), it looks like these elusive 8 GB iPhone 4s are nowhere to be seen. The iPhone 4 looks like an endangered species now that the 16 GB and 32 GB units have been pulled — the iPhone 4S has only reached the Hong Kong SAR and not the rest of the PRC. (Scalpers made a huge fuss at the Hong Kong store in Central — with queues extending back to the MTR station. What a queue!)
The Shuangjing China Unicom (HKG:0762) store in eastern central Beijing, as an example, just got a sprinkling of 8 GB iPhone 4s on over the weekend (with none coming in on Sunday). Just a ring road away near Guangqumen, the iPhone 4’s 8 GB variant simply did not turn up — at all.
The 8 GB iPhone 4 units are big as they’re cheap: it’s RMB 3,999 without an obligatory China Unicom agreement. Of course, this doesn’t mean we’re out of iPhones in China: they are available at “gray market” outlets in Zhongguancun, but with a premium: RMB 4,100. (These iPhone 4 units got in from non-official channels, hence the “gray” factor.)
If there’s any bit of news to cheer you up, it’s that China Unicom has already told its internal channel system to be prepared for the (eventual) arrival of the iPhone 4S on China (as in on the mainland). Line up early, though. Let’s hope the guy in front of you isn’t a scalper!
[Photo: Business Insider]
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