Apple halts iPhone sales in China

It said the phone still will be sold online and through its local carrier.

Angry customers and gangs of scalpers threw eggs at Apple Inc.s flagship Beijing store Friday after its opening for the China launch of the iPhone 4S was cancelled due to concerns over the size of the crowd.

Apple reacted to the outburst by postponing iPhone 4S sales in its mainland China stores to protect the safety of customers and employees. It said the phone still will be sold online and through its local carrier.

The incident highlighted Apples huge popularity in China and the role of middlemen who buy up limited supplies of iPhones and other products or smuggle them from abroad for resale to Chinese gadget fans at a big markup.

Hundreds of customers including migrant workers hired by scalpers in teams of 20 to 30 waited overnight in freezing weather at the Apple store in a shopping mall in Beijings east side Sanlitun district.

The crowd erupted after the store failed to open on schedule at 7 am. Some threw eggs and shouted at employees through the windows. A person with a megaphone announced the sale was cancelled. Police ordered the crowd to leave and sealed off the area with yellow tape. Employees posted a sign saying the iPhone 4S was out of stock.

We were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd,and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees,iPhone will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being, said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

The iPhone 4S quickly sold out at other Apple stores in China,Wu said. She said the phone still will be sold in China through Apples online store,its local carrier China Unicom Ltd. and retailers that are authorised resellers.

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Wu declined to comment on what Apple might know about scalpers buying iPhones for resale. China is Apples fastest-growing market and an area of enormous opportunity, CEO Tim Cook said in October.

Customers began gathering 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 7 am.