Beijing: Furious Chinese shoppers pelted Apple Inc’s flagship Beijing store with eggs and shoving matches broke out with police on Friday when customers were told the store would not begin sales of the iPhone 4S as scheduled.
According to a Guardian report, Apple later said it was suspending all retail sales of the new phone in China for the time being although it would still be available to buy online.
Scuffles broke out before dawn on Friday between security staff and shoppers, many of whom had waited in line overnight in temperatures below freezing, after an announcer with a megaphone told the crowd that the phones would not go on sale as planned and they should go home.
Police dragged some customers away while others threw eggs at the windows of the store in Beijing’s fashionable Sanlitun district.
Apple’s other store in Beijing sold out of its stock of 2,000 iPhones by 9am, one shopper at the store was told.
China is Apple’s fastest growing market, accounting for one-sixth of the company’s global sales. However, despite being manufactured in China, the latest version of the iPhone was only launched there on Friday.
Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, said earlier this month that “customer response to our products in China has been off the charts. With the launch in China, the iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries, making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever”.
Customers began gathering on Thursday afternoon outside the Sanlitun store. People in the crowd said the number grew to as many as 2,000 overnight but many left before dawn after word spread that the store opening would be cancelled. There were about 350 people left when the protest erupted after 7am.
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