Apple’s iPhone 14 hits the shelves in China resulting in long queues and big mark-ups despite market gloom

Apple’s new iPhone 14 series of handsets officially hit the shelves in China on Friday, resulting in long queues of shoppers outside the US tech giant’s store in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, and steep mark-ups from some scalpers despite a weak overall market for smartphones.

There were around a hundred shoppers in a snaking line outside Apple’s bricks-and-mortar store in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district at around noon on Friday, anxious to pick up the iPhone 14 handsets they had pre-ordered online.

This Post reporter also spotted a group of scalpers gathered outside the store, asking people if they wanted to sell their brand new handsets at a mark-up, and who then attempted to re-sell the devices at an even steeper price to other consumers.

“The price depends on the model, we usually add 600 yuan (US$86) for some iPhone 14 Pro models to buy them, but for models like the iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB we will give 1,200 yuan extra and can then resell it with at least a 1,500 yuan mark-up,” one of the scalpers told the Post, declining to give their name.

Only consumers who had reserved a time slot were allowed in a fast-track lane, while other shoppers had to queue up for around an hour to enter the store, according to a security person on site. “If you don’t have a reservation and only want to look around, I advise you to come back another time as it will be a long wait,” said the staff member.

Around 12 kilometres away in Huaqiangbei, home to the world’s biggest electronics trading centre, dealers and scalpers were also gearing up for the first-day of sales of the iPhone 14. Some dealers offered a price with a 2,000 yuan mark-up for an iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB in a deep purple colour.