Hot off the press: iPhone 8 handset cases in Shenzhen before Apple’s official sales launch

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A store with an “Apple Store” sign is seen in Shenzhen on September 21, 2015. On a bustling street, more than 30 stores carrying Apple's iconic white logos peddle pre-orders for the new iPhone. But the US company only has one official store in Shenzhen and five authorised dealers in the area. Most of the stores in the roughly 1km shopping corridor are unauthorised “fakes” - although they sell genuine Apple products - and their numbers have mushroomed ahead of the release on September 25, 2015 of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6s Plus. Photo: REUTERS

Published: 10:34pm, 12 Sep 2017Updated: 3:38pm, 13 Sep 2017

Even before Apple Inc lifts the curtains on the next iteration of its iconic handset, vendors in southern China are already touting cases and accessories for the iPhone 8, its larger sibling iPhone 8 Plus, and a possible iPhone X to mark the 10th anniversary of the world’s most successful smartphone.

They come in plastic in shocking red, jet black or electric blue, selling for anything from 10 yuan to 30 yuan (US$4.60) apiece at the Huaqiangbei electronics mall in southern China’s technology hub of Shenzhen.

“Producing iPhone cases is a sure win,” said Li Hong, a saleswoman at one of the mall’s scores of stores. “Suppliers have already shipped the cases to Huaqiangbei, so I can immediately fill out orders after the iPhone’s launch tonight. I didn’t want to keep the accessories too far ahead of the launch as I didn’t want any inventory pressure.”

Mobile phone counter at the Jusco Department Store in Citic City Plaza in Huaqiang Bei Commercial District, Shenzhen on 5 February 2007. Photo: SCMP

Apple is scheduled to unveil its new phones Tuesday at the newly completed Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, during the wee hours of Hong Kong time.

The sizes and dimensions of the to-be-released phones have already been known for weeks through leaks on Apple fan sites, bulletin boards, media reports or information provided by the hundreds of Apple component suppliers, many based in China.

The iPhone 8 is supposed to come with a 4.7-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) touch screen, while the bigger iPhone 8 Plus sports a 5.5-inch LCD screen and the iPhone X will have a 5.8-inch curved screen using organic light-emitting diode (OLED).

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