The Chinese government has regulatory approval restrictions on new products, and this means the country’s tech consumers will have to wait for Apple’s new iPhones to arrive. That doesn’t stop some people from flocking to America and purchasing the new iPhone 6 which is later smuggled in Hostess Twinkie boxes and brought back to China. Some people smuggle in many phones which will be sold at a high profit.
China to soon approve iPhone 6
Reporter Eunice Yoon made an appearance on CNBC confirming the Chinese government would complete the license for the iPhone 6 soon. She attributed that as the reason a temporary decline on phone prices in the black market.
In the United States, the iPhone 6 retails for $1,900 and the iPhone 6 Plus $3,250. The most popular colors are space gray and gold. Yoon adds that these colors command up to a $500 premium in sales. Although Chinese government officials are cracking down on the illegal sales, some smugglers have been creative with the smuggling process. It was already mentioned some people store the phones inside empty Twinkie boxes, but others store the goods in empty toothpaste boxes or coffee cans.
Smugglers find creative but illegal ways to bring iPhone to China
The reason for the delayed approval is still unknown. One recent local report claims the iPhone 6 may not come to China until 2015. It also cited Apple’s problem reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Reuters even cited one source that was familiar with the certification process claiming MIIT’s certification process usually takes one or two months before approving new phones.
There has been speculation from others that iPhone 6 is holding up the launch regulators working towards the final approvals. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are Apple’s latest smartphones. Both phones are larger than previous iPhones as an effort to compete with the larger phablet-style phones currently on the market.
