Sales Of iPhones Stopped In China

Unruly customers in Beijing have caused Apple to ban the sale of the iPhone 4S in China.

January 13, 2012- Shoppers, enraged by the news that the latest iPhone 4S would not be going on sale as scheduled, pelted the flagship store of Apple Inc in Beijing with eggs. The tech giant announced after the incident in the trendy district of Sanlitun that it would stop all sales of the new iPhone in China until further notice. Apple did say the phones could be purchased online, through China Unicom its partner or at any authorized Apple resellers.

Sales of the new iPhone 4S went smoother at Apple’s other Beijing stores and its three Shanghai stores. Stocks in all four stores were quickly depleted.

The incident took place at the Sanlitun store after it was announced over a bullhorn that the crowd should leave because the phone would not be available for purchase as was originally planned.

The crowd quickly became unruly with scuffles breaking out between shoppers and security. Many of the shoppers had been waiting there throughout the night in near freezing temperatures.

Photos appeared online of someone who brought eggs and handed them out to people in the crowd, who in turn threw them at the store’s windows. Witnesses said that the police just started hitting people and a number of fights broke out.

On Friday, the latest Apple iPhone was introduced in 22 countries, including China. The new phone has features that respond to the user’s voice commands and ranges in price from nearly $800 to more than $1,075.