Scarcity of iPhones may benefit Samsung in China

Apple Inc is missing out on Chinese New Year sales and giving competitors a potential boost after pulling all iPhones from company stores during the nation's most important gift-giving season. Apple stopped selling all handsets at its five China outlets on January 13 after customers pelted the flagship store in Beijing with eggs because it wouldn't open on the first day of sales for the iPhone 4S. The online store in China also sold out of the device. The one-week holiday, which begins on January 23, generated $64 billion (Dh234.88 billion) in retail sales last year, according to government statistics. Clearing iPhones from shelves in the 10 days leading into the Year of the Dragon may help Samsung Electronics Co and other competitors using Google Inc's Android software increase their footholds in the world's largest mobile-phone market. "A large portion of Chin-ese New Year sales are about having the gifts in hand right now," said David Wolf, chief executive officer of Wolf Group Asia, a Beijing-based consulting firm. "Android devices competitive with the iPhone will benefit." Scalper markup Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment on the sales impact of removing iPhones from company stores or say when the devices would return. The new model remains available through carrier China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd and authorised resellers. Wang Yun and her husband drove more than an hour to the Apple store in Beijing's Xidan neighbourhood, intending to buy an iPhone 4 as a holiday present for themselves. Other sources are the dozen hawkers milling around outside, haranguing shoppers with cries of "4S here!" and "Brother, come on, buy one!" Negotiations start at 5,700 yuan (Dh3,310) for a 4S handset they say is authentic. That's about 14 per cent higher than the 4,988-yuan price listed on Apple's website.