Switching New Parts with Fake Ones, Apple Return Policy Exploited in China

Randy Cheung, Apr 16, 2013 11:49 PM, 437 views, Got something to say ?,

The return policy for Apple products in China was exploited by scammers who exchanged fake parts for real and using the latter to build and sell new iPhones. Five employees at an electronics store selling Apple goods were arrested in Wenzhou city, located at southeastern Zhejiang province, after they submitted 121 iPhone 4S with fake BAND parts. The word “BAND” is a professional term used by manufacturers, which means the core of the device which exclude battery, back cover, etc. The core of the phone worth about 3,000 yuan (US$476) each. The scammers allegedly exchanged the fake parts for real ones, bought the back cover, battery and other components, then re-build and sell the put-together devices as new iPhone 4S for a profit of 1,000 yuan (US$161.62). It took Apple a few months to spot the scam and carried out the investigation. Apple’s return policy in China has been much discussed recently, after the country’s state-owned TV broadcasting network aired an investigative report claiming Apple was treating local consumers with discrimination with regard to its after-sales service policy. The Cupertino company really needs more effort to improve its supervision on its return policy to prevent more scam happening in China.

Apple Authorized Service Providers in China Get Messy, One Maintenance Point Serving 80,000 Users

Star Chang, Apr 14, 2013 4:02 PM, 419 views, Got something to say ?,

Apple authorized service providers in China have not implemented the company’s revised after-sales policies, and some have publicly opposed them. Apple promised that all repairs to faulty devices will be carried out using new parts and repaired devices will offer a new 1-year warranty from the service date. The new policies have met a mixed reception from those who have to carry out the work, however, one major reason being that there is a serious over-demand for phone repairs. Apple currently has only eight directly run maintenance points located in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen. Due to the limit of Apple Stores in the country, it has further authorized more than 500 maintenance points in over 270 China cities. According to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, China is expected to sell as many as 40 million iPhone in 2013 alone, which means one maintenance point in China is serving nearly 80,000 users. Among the expected 40 million new iPhone users, it still doesn’t include the large number of devices from grey market …

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Chinese Apple’s User Shows Us How to Crook the Aluminum iPhone 5

Carson Cheung, Dec 27, 2012 6:38 AM, 5,313 views, 4 Comments »,

The mighty Apple iPhone 5 has officially gone on sale in mainland China two weeks ago. The iPhone 5 is only 7.6mm thick, which is 1.7mm thinner than the previous iPhone 4s. Due to its relatively long body design, the rigidity seem not as good as the old model. The iPhone 5, which is made of so-called anodized 6000 series aluminum, it’s no stronger than Chinese users’ butt. Chinese netizen “keith512” is the first Apple user to raise up the issue. He put the newly bought iPhone 5 in his back trousers pocket, and it was bent out of shape after he sat down. Luckily the screen is still working, but the nano-sim card slot was damage. The uncommon incident attracted nearly ten thousand web user to share and discuss on Chinese social network …

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Will We Not See Crowds Lining Up For The iPhone 5 in China?

Herman Lai, Dec 4, 2012 12:09 PM, 1,283 views, Got something to say ?,

Chinese users are actually quite unhappy with Apple’s latest announcement in regards of the launch of iPhone 5 in China, as the iPhone 5 will turn out to be the most expensive model out of all the previous generations. Many netizens found it unreasonable to pay for the iPhone 5, since Apple is just making it taller than its predecessor. They criticized Apple’s increase of price is outpacing their product innovation, but they’re still expecting to see someone to sell their kidney for the iPhone 5. Will the price hike deter Chinese consumers from buying the device?

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So Much News in China… #064

Star Chang, Oct 8, 2012 2:15 PM, 1,033 views, Got something to say ?,

There are so much news from China that passes by that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Here are the Chinese tech news that we have left behind last week because we are just too busy or too lazy to post. There are stories on China’s hacking, Huawei vs. Cisco, cheap second-hand iPhone 4sand so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: Animation on famous people from around the world joined the Gangnam style frenzy … Hope everyone have a fresh start to your week and keep tracking your orders of iPhone 5.

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Chinese College Students Will Suffer Humiliation if They Don’t Own “Apple 3-Piece Set”

Star Chang, Sep 4, 2012 9:32 AM, 3,668 views, 12 Comments »,

Electronic products are a must for new generation of college students in China. Stores across China have seen a rush to buy the gadgets in the run-up to the new school year, particularly among college students. An incident has happened in one of the Apple authorised reseller shop in Beijing last month, a freshmen made a fuss demanding to her parents, insisted on buying an iPhone 4S, new iPad, and Macbook which cost over 20,000 yuan (US$3,129). The three i-products are described as “Apple 3-Piece Set”in China retails market. The girl said to her parent, “if you don’t buy me these, just go ahead and let me lose face in college”. Her mother was in tears because she couldn’t afford the luxury Apple products …

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Xiaomi Latest Handset Mi-One S Sold Out 200,000 Units in Half-an-hour

Star Chang, Aug 23, 2012 9:16 PM, 765 views, Got something to say ?,

The latest device from domestic brand Xiaomi — the US$236 (1,499 yuan) Mi-One S — sell out of an initial batch of 200,000 units in just 30 minutes, with over 1 million additional reservations left to fulfill. The Mi-One S features an upgraded dual-core 1.7 GHz processor, a 2-megapixel front camera and an improved 8-megapixel rear camera. A total of 3.5 million units of the first-generation Mi-One were sold, making it the third-most popular Android phone in China last quarter. Xiaomi has adopted a unique strategy of releasing waves of its new phones on its online store, official words that the second round of preorder will restart in September. It revealed earlier this week that it had received a total of 1.3 million preorders for the Mi-One S …

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How I Turned My iPhone 4 into iPhone 5 Before September 12th (video)

Chris Chang, Aug 22, 2012 8:00 PM, 6,253 views, 1 Comment »,

Hey guys, I believe you have seen this rumored two-tone, elongated unibody design that the next-generation iPhone might look like. Well, that seems to be awesome after I bought a mod to transform my iPhone 4 to look like this.

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Xiaomi Phone 2 Launch Event Looks Like Apple Keynote with Steve Jobs (Video)

Star Chang, Aug 17, 2012 5:01 PM, 13,074 views, 9 Comments »,

The Xiaomi Phone 2, the high-end Chinese smartphone that aims to challenge Apple’s iPhone’s market share in China, has announced in Beijing on Thusday. Aesthetically similar to Meizu MX 4-core, the new mobile device features Qualcomm latest quad-core chip, 2 GB RAM and 16GB memory, a 4.3-inch 720p IPS display with the highest pixel density, all at a compellingly super low price point at 1999 yuan (US$310, contract free). We have attended the launch party in Beijing, which is considered to be equivalent to Apple’s keynote event. We have round-up all the highlights of the event, click in to find out how the Xiaomi Phone 2 will shake-up the whole smartphone market in China …

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How Apple’s iPhone Replace Some Of The Best 80’s Gadgets

Chris Chang, Jul 6, 2012 10:06 PM, 2,217 views, Got something to say ?,

Apple’s Macintosh, Sony’s Walkman, Nintendo’s Gameboy — these are just a few of the many awesome gadgets that signified the 80s. It was a time when Nintendo was still dominating the portable gaming industry, and Sony was the one ushering in the new wave of portable music devices, while Apple was laying the groundwork for all-in-one desktop. Geeks all over the world should know these vintage devices, and until 2007, a revolutionary device came out and shocked the whole world, and that’s Apple’s iPhone. With the iPhone, you can browse the web, listen to music, play games, and take photos. Here’s something we would like to see, what would life be like if Apple’s iPhone appeared in the 80s? We made a video to illustrate the scenario. Just for fun.

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