Macenstein

I ALSO waited in line for an iPhone 4, but that was back in 2010...

Faithful Macenstein reader and Shanghai correspondent Min has returned with some interesting shots of folks still lining up outside the Shanghai Apple Store to gobble up the iPhone 4, despite the fact that the 4S is already available in Hong Kong and should be making its way to the rest of China in December.

What’s even stranger is that according to Min, the majority of these people in line are iPhone scalpers, looking to turn a quick profit on the hot-selling device which tends to sell out daily (probably because these scalpers are buying 5 at a time..).

” I went to the Apple Store again for a time lapse project. Guess what?! People were lining up for the iPhone 4 8GB version here in Shanghai while people in HongKong were lining up for iPhone 4S! That’s very interesting thing if you think about it. I talked to one of the scalpers. He said he hires people to get in line for him. He pays them 100RMB per iPhone. (each person can get 5) The iPhone 4 8GB version is unlocked, and sells for 3988RMB, about $635. ”

FIVE AT A TIME, BABY!

As big an Apple fan as I am, I like to think even I could wait another month or so to buy an iPhone that wasn’t over a year old, let alone pay extra for it from a scalper. But then again, I think the economy in China might be doing a bit better than ours (at least for those people who aren’t MAKING the iPhones) so maybe they have renminbi to burn .

Incidentally, here’s Min’s timelapse video of the store, which sort of reminds me of a crazy (and expensive) ride. Enjoy.