January 13, 2012 - 5:13PM
BEIJING – An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular new iPhone 4S model.
Hundreds of people waited overnight in freezing weather for the sale at the Apple store in the Chinese capital's Sanlitun district. Some said they were paid to wait by merchants who planned to resell the popular phones.
The crowd erupted in anger after the shop failed to open on schedule at 7am. Some people threw eggs and shouted at employees through the shop windows.
Police cleared the area and employees later posted a sign in the window saying the iPhone 4S was out of stock. The area was sealed off with police tape at mid-morning.
Apple said on it would stop selling its latest iPhone in its retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai to ensure the safety of its customers and employees. "The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible and our stores in China have already sold out," an Apple spokeswoman said.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd. And to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees, iPhones will not be available in our retails stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being," she said.
Customers will still be able to order the smartphone online or purchase it through Apple's partner in China, China Unicom.
Apple's iPhones are hugely popular in China and stores are mobbed for the release of new models, which can be resold for large markups.
Last May, the Sanlitun store was closed for several hours after a scuffle between an employee and a customer during the release of the iPhone 4.
"On the one hand there is poor organisation and on the other there were just too many people," said a man waiting Friday outside the Sanlitun store, who would give only his surname, Miao. "I don't think they prepared well enough."
Apple's other major outlet in Beijing in the Xidan district on the west side opened on schedule and the iPhone 4S was sold out by 10.30am, according to an employee who answered the phone there. She refused to give her name or any other details.
AP and Reuters
where did they get the egg from?
@Beya嗯，good question。三里屯嘛，村子。哈哈。
@S̆̈我只能说：一群疯子！
@勺子呵呵。
国内定价多少？澳洲最便宜的是$799
@Bigman国内行货比较贵，详情见这里吧： AppleStore在线订购详情，以及 联通合约机价格
@S̆̈按照汇率，基本一样
@Bigman那好。
不怪黄牛，只怨apple
@如水的巨浪座也得怪富士康了。
都素孙精兵 :跑跑 上海的壮观场景我可是亲眼目睹，亲身感受了一把，下午4点到客户处，谈到8点，吃晚饭，然后10点出来，人只是越来越多，然后一帮桔黄色帽子，明显专业黄牛找来的嘛 :圣诞
@ric83311市场经济，不专业不行……
太誇張了 ~ 有毛好雞凍捏 ! @@
@希琳娜因为买不到……