In an ironic twist, US-launched iPads are sent back to the country which built them, not for repairs, but to be sold to Chinese buyers at $1,000 a pop. This unbelievable smuggling op for the latest tech leaves an illicit trail that crosses international borders and tariffs, a situation only Jason Bourne would readily get into and hunt down.
As far as product launches go, the US consumer market always has dibbs on the iPad release, hence the long queues, with the insane limit that Apple buyers can only buy two iPads as a quota. So the smugglers have people line up on launch day, so they could have buyouts at the nearest parking lot and by the time the first flight out of the US to China touches down- you got iPads hitting Beijing. Cray cray, if you ask me.
Whatever the case, Apple is definitely worth GOLD on launch day.
This is true not only for the iPad but for other gadgets as well, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In fact, the factories where the spare parts come from (LCD’s, batteries, etc.) are right available off the internet. Just Google them and in seconds, there they are. All the parts are available right off of Alibaba.com. If you want an iPad knock off assembled and shipped right at your doorstep, a simple email will start the deal. Of course, some of them would require a minimum quantity so be ready to ask 10 of your friends if they want these knock offs, too.
ReplyDeleteThey really should impose stricter policies when it comes to smuggled items. I have nothing against China getting these goods, but the people should not even think of supporting illegal transactions such as these. It’s true that everyone wants to have the iPad at the same time, but would it really hurt just to wait till it’s legally released in your area? People are just weird at times.
ReplyDeleteWell, I can't blame the other countries for wanting smuggled goods. I mean, it's like some form of discrimination in a way that we get dibs on a product that was made from a different country. What would be fair is if the item were all released into the market all at the same time. This should eliminate people catering to smuggled items.
Delete