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Chinese Smugglers Are Hiding iPhone 6 Units Inside Coffee Tins And Twinkie Boxes
Chinese Smugglers Are Hiding iPhone 6 Units Inside Coffee Tins And Twinkie Boxes
Dave SmithSep 23, 2014, 18:59 IST
As the iPhone 6 awaits regulatory approval in China, citizens in that country are coming up with creative ways to get Apple's latest iPhone into the country.While there are plenty of Chinese nationals standing in US lines to flip their phones for several thousand dollars - they're even fighting over it - CNBC reporter Eunice Yoon says smugglers have packaged and stacked iPhone 6 units inside the boxes of Twinkies - or rather, the Chinese equivalent of those yellow sponge cakes.People are also hiding iPhone 6 units inside coffee tins and toothpaste boxes.According to CNBC, the iPhone 6 is selling on the Chinese black market for about $1,900, while the more scarce iPhone 6 Plus is selling for about $3,250. Yoon says the most popular colors among those unauthorized sales are gold and space grey, and customers are willing to pay an extra $500 premium for those colors.Apple - and the Chinese government, for that matter - did not have to deal with these profiteers last year, since the iPhone 5S and 5C received their required certifications to release on launch day. This year, however, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus hit an unexpected snag with regulators for unknown reasons. China's press agency Xinhua said last Thursday that the iPhone 6 has received one of the two needed certifications, but after that, Apple's new iPhones will need network access licenses from the Telecom Equipment Certification Center, which is the Chinese equivalent of the FCC. The phones could go on sale within days or weeks after Apple receives all its licenses and certifications; the Chinese government, according to Reuters, says these licenses will be "completed soon."Check out Yoon's full report on CNBC below:
