Apple Hong Kong instates iPhone lottery to combat rowdy scalpers

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


Faced with an influx of grey marketers and incidents of repeated violence over sales of the iPhone 4S in Hong Kong, Apple has turned to a safer, more secure system for divvying out new stock of the handset to customers each day.



An update to the electronic's maker's Hong Kong web site now presents customers with a lottery system, by which they have three hours each day (9am - 12pm) to place a request for a specific iPhone model.



Customers who are selected will receive an email by 9pm that evening with instructions on picking up their iPhone at a specific time the following day. The Apple Store IFC Mall in Hong Kong has since halted sales to walk-in customers, deferring all local customers to the new system.



Since its launch in Hong Kong this past November, limited supplies of the iPhone 4S have seen scalpers flood the city, spurring altercations and creating random acts of violence that have marred the Apple experience and jeopardized the general safety of legitimate customers.



According to one report, scalpers receive $500 HKD ($64) to wait in line for their ringleaders, who look to export the unlocked phones to mainland China, where they are not only more expensive but also come locked to Apple's official carriers.









As part of its new lottery system, Apple is asking that all customers who request an iPhone provide their government ID.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    AAPL is on fire!
  • Reply 2 of 20
    "Instates" is not a word, Katie.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post


    "Instates" is not a word, Katie.



    instate |inˈstāt| verb (usu. be instated)

    set up in position; install or establish:
  • Reply 4 of 20
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post


    "Instates" is not a word, Katie.



    Should've said "to or will instate"
  • Reply 5 of 20
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    This is the same thing they did in the US after launch weekend
  • Reply 6 of 20
    instates = 3rd person singular of instate (present tense)



    Yes, the present tense is not technically correct. It has already been instated.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    While we're editing Katie, the second paragraph has an apostrophe stuck in a simple plural -- should be "electronics."



    I wouldn't mention it, but so many people have trouble with this apostrophe-with-plural thing, who can they count on besides Apple Insider for exemplary English?
  • Reply 8 of 20
    AppleInsider, where grammar is more important than news.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    Or they could just activate the phones when purchased.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    AppleInsider, where grammar is more important than news.



    Would've been nice to see some Kung Fu fighting in the video but it was very orderly and boring, how do we know that's not the extras hiring line for the next Godzilla movie?
  • Reply 11 of 20
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    While the word "instate" may be found in some dictionaries, it doesn't find much actual usage (cf. "couth").
  • Reply 12 of 20
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    That's quite a clever solution. Similar to the way some cinemas prevent a rush for the best seats by pre-selling certain positions.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PowerMach View Post


    instates = 3rd person singular of instate (present tense)



    Yes, the present tense is not technically correct. It has already been instated.



    Despite the fact that I find the grammatical arguments here to be annoying...



    Yes, "instates" is a word (you don't see that form of it all that often, but it's still a word). Yes, it's third person singular, present tense. No, that's not a mistake.



    Present tense is the accepted standard for news headlines, so it's fine here. An example from the NYTimes home page right now: "2 Americans, Fearing Arrest, Take Refuge in Cairo Embassy". Another from the WSJournal: "Fed Survey Finds Banks Still Cautious to Lend". The Americans already took refuge, and the survey already found... but that's not how you write headlines.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    pendergastpendergast Posts: 1,358member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post


    Should've said "to or will instate"



    It would have been better to say "installs" or "establishes". Present tense is correct for headlines.



    Or "Apple Hong Kong combats rowdy scalpers with iPhone lottery"...



    ...or, "Apple Hong Kong righteously combats evil scalpers with brilliant iPhone lottery". You know, to better fit with the site's theme. Or, while we're at it, "Apple Hong Kong battles evil agents of Google with brilliant iPhone lottery, leapfrogs Android in Q1 estimates" with DED as the byline.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    estyleestyle Posts: 201member
    Apple establishes new precedent when it instates iPhone lottery protocol after black market kingpin installs rowdy scalpers into innocent mob of tai chi practitioners....



    Appleinsider Title and Apple Solution sound good to me...
  • Reply 16 of 20
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    This is the same thing they did in the US after the first weekend
  • Reply 17 of 20
    It's better late than never. They need to stop this 'resale to China' madness, in fact they should do this in every country so that the phones would go to users' hands. Now obviously individual users could still resale it, but at least it'll be much harder to be done in large scale.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    ajitmdajitmd Posts: 365member
    How about raising prices of the iPhones till demand meets supply, and there are no shortages: Eco 101?



    Anyway, I understand that this option is not viable because it would ruin the reputation of the company. Apple needs to find alternative assemblers and parts suppliers, outside of China to diversify the geographic and political risk.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post


    Would've been nice to see some Kung Fu fighting in the video but it was very orderly and boring, how do we know that's not the extras hiring line for the next Godzilla movie?



    Why would there be any kung fu fighting? There wasn't any KKK eating Happy Meals in the States waiting lines.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lightstriker View Post


    Why would there be any kung fu fighting? There wasn't any KKK eating Happy Meals in the States waiting lines.



    I understand what I hope was your lame attempt at humor -- but to compare a racist, vile, hate group to a group that practices martial arts is way over the line. I think you watch to many dubbed movies!
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