eggs PONDING @ Apple's botched iPhone 4S launch

[matamafia]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...3/gIQA0EKvvP_gallery.html?tid=pm_business_gal

In Beijing, crowd erupts over botched iPhone 4S launch, throws eggs at Apple store
Apple has postponed the sale of its latest smartphone in mainland China because of concerns over the crowd’s size.
An officer stands watch after police sealed off the area surrounding the Apple Store in Beijing.

5 Seconds

00:00

00:00

Jan. 13, 2012

An officer stands watch after police sealed off the area surrounding the Apple Store in Beijing.

Andy Wong / AP

Related Content

Customers wait outside the Beijing store all night before the mainland release of the iPhone 4S. Apple recently announced iPhone 4S will be released in China and 21 other countries on Jan. 13.

Jan. 13, 2012

Customers wait outside the Beijing store all night before the mainland release of the iPhone 4S. Apple recently announced iPhone 4S will be released in China and 21 other countries on Jan. 13.

Feng Li / Getty Images
Customers wait outside an Apple store for the iPhone 4S model as egg's stains are seen on the left side of the window. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule to sell the popular smartphones.

Jan. 13, 2012

Customers wait outside an Apple store for the iPhone 4S model as egg's stains are seen on the left side of the window. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule to sell the popular smartphones.

Andy Wong / AP
Broken eggs are seen outside an the Apple flagship store in Beijing.

Jan. 13, 2012

Broken eggs are seen outside an the Apple flagship store in Beijing.

Nelson Ching / Bloomberg
Customers stand outside Apple's Beijing flagship store as they wait for the store to open to sell the iPhone 4S.

Jan. 13, 2012

Customers stand outside Apple's Beijing flagship store as they wait for the store to open to sell the iPhone 4S.

Feng Li / Getty Images
People continue to wait outside the Apple store.

Jan. 13, 2012

People continue to wait outside the Apple store.

ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images
An unidentified official announces that the iPhone 4S has sold out outside an Apple store in Beijing. Apple, whose skill at hyping new products has helped make it the world's most valuable technology company, became a victim of its own success with a botched introduction of its iPhone 4S in China.

Jan. 13, 2012

An unidentified official announces that the iPhone 4S has sold out outside an Apple store in Beijing. Apple, whose skill at hyping new products has helped make it the world's most valuable technology company, became a victim of its own success with a botched introduction of its iPhone 4S in China.

Nelson Ching / Bloomberg
A policeman tries to drag away people who refused to leave the Apple Store in Beijing.

Jan. 13, 2012

A policeman tries to drag away people who refused to leave the Apple Store in Beijing.

Andy Wong / AP
A man wearing a face mask stands next to a window of an Apple store that was pelted with eggs. Apple said on Friday it will stop selling its latest iPhone in its retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai to ensure the safety of its customers and employees. The iPhone 4S, which went on sale early Friday, caused a near-riot in one of Apple's Beijing retail stores.

Jan. 13, 2012

A man wearing a face mask stands next to a window of an Apple store that was pelted with eggs. Apple said on Friday it will stop selling its latest iPhone in its retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai to ensure the safety of its customers and employees. The iPhone 4S, which went on sale early Friday, caused a near-riot in one of Apple's Beijing retail stores.

David Gray / Reuters
A woman is carried away by police after she refused to leave from the front of the Apple store. A crowd of a few hundred people gathered outside the store from early morning on the first day of sales in China for Apple's iPhone 4S, but police were called to disperse the crowd after one potential customer threw eggs at the front of the store.

Jan. 13, 2012

A woman is carried away by police after she refused to leave from the front of the Apple store. A crowd of a few hundred people gathered outside the store from early morning on the first day of sales in China for Apple's iPhone 4S, but police were called to disperse the crowd after one potential customer threw eggs at the front of the store.

David Gray / Reuters
A man is dragged away by police after he refused to leave from the front of the Apple store.

Jan. 13, 2012

A man is dragged away by police after he refused to leave from the front of the Apple store.

David Gray / Reuters
A woman is taken by medical staff to an ambulance on a stretcher in the Beijing district of Sanlitun after being dragged away by police after she refused to leave from the front of the Apple store.

Jan. 13, 2012

A woman is taken by medical staff to an ambulance on a stretcher in the Beijing district of Sanlitun after being dragged away by police after she refused to leave from the front of the Apple store.

David Gray / Reuters
Police stand guard outside an Apple store after they dispersed a crowd from the front of the store.

Jan. 13, 2012

Police stand guard outside an Apple store after they dispersed a crowd from the front of the store.

David Gray / Reuters
A police officer walks by workers cleaning up garbage left by the people gathered outside the Apple store.

 

[singveld]

If i line up to queue overnight at sub zero temperature , and apple store do that. I will not throw egg. I will never buy apple ever again. Instead there is samsung, nokia, htc for phone. Sony, panasonic and toshiba for notebook. The error is apple store manager which did not solve the overcrowding situation at night. Now they punish people who wait for their product. This store in beijing screw up not once, but three times in past few year.


It is very disappointing for apple store.

 

[UMNO Terrorist]

Ban that rubbish iphone lah.

 

[johnny333]

Ban that rubbish iphone lah.

It will simply drive the black market prices up. However it would make the Hongkie grey marketers happy.

 

[palden]

Typical ah tiongs.

 

[Leongsam]

More evidence that the Chinese have low IQs.

Only an idiot would queue overnight in the middle of winter for a stupid phone that doesn't even work very well.

 

[Ash007]

Indeed, its the store managers fault. I've seen long queues for the apple store here as well. Literally, they lined up from one end of the street to the next. The line is probably close to 300m. However, along the way, there are barricades, barriers, Apple even provided umbrellas if it rains and wifi, coffee. It keeps everyone spirited while waiting to get their latest apple gadget.

If i line up to queue overnight at sub zero temperature , and apple store do that. I will not throw egg. I will never buy apple ever again. Instead there is samsung, nokia, htc for phone. Sony, panasonic and toshiba for notebook. The error is apple store manager which did not solve the overcrowding situation at night. Now they punish people who wait for their product. This store in beijing screw up not once, but three times in past few year.


It is very disappointing for apple store.

 

[singveld]

Indeed, its the store managers fault. I've seen long queues for the apple store here as well. Literally, they lined up from one end of the street to the next. The line is probably close to 300m. However, along the way, there are barricades, barriers, Apple even provided umbrellas if it rains and wifi, coffee. It keeps everyone spirited while waiting to get their latest apple gadget.

yeah in japan, usa and basically rest of the world, apple store put barrier so that people line by in one long line. Did you see the photo i post in moderated folder, there seem to have no queue at about 7 am time, just a mass of people squeezing in front of the entrance. apple store beijing which fail to control the crowd outside their store, should apologise to the people.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

This just shows tat USA Brands control china...do people of other countries queue up for a china branded product?

 

[singveld]

This just shows tat USA Brands control china...do people of other countries queue up for a china branded product?

actually they do, hong kong queue by for chinese made phone.

Meizu MX launches in China and Hong Kong, hundreds line up to buy one

New Year's Day may seem like a vacation for most technology enthusiasts, but not Meizu fans. Today, the dual-core Meizu MX smartphone launched in Hong Kong and China, and plenty of excited buyers showed up with their pre-order slips in hand. Meizu Me estimates that over 900 people stood in line at Meizu's new Hong Kong shop to purchase the 2,999 yuan device, which has reportedly been tweaked since early reviews, with "a anti-fingerprint coating to the camera lens, easier to use hardware buttons, improved aesthetics of the internal circuitry along with improvements in overall build quality." It doesn't come with Android 4.0, though, but the company promises an upgrade for both the MX and M9 later this year. Speaking of the older Meizu M9, it just got a price drop to 1,699 yuan to make room for its successor. The official Meizu forums have plenty of pictures of the crowds, and an additional tidbit of news: Meizu CEO Jack Wong suggests that the quad-core version of the Meizu MX might not be ready until May of next this year.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

Maybe queuing is the way of the future..but really for china branded phones? tat is ridiqulous

 

[Cestbon]

I always thinking human is become more and more stupid and lower IQ.
Why Q for a phone? Not free !
If wait for 2 ~3 month sure no problem no need to Q and waiting time overnight.
Without I phone can they die?

 

[Ash007]

Humans are getting dumber.

[video=youtube;BXRjmyJFzrU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXRjmyJFzrU[/video]

I always thinking human is become more and more stupid and lower IQ.
Why Q for a phone? Not free !
If wait for 2 ~3 month sure no problem no need to Q and waiting time overnight.
Without I phone can they die?

 

[johnny333]

I always thinking human is become more and more stupid and lower IQ.
Why Q for a phone? Not free !
If wait for 2 ~3 month sure no problem no need to Q and waiting time overnight.
Without I phone can they die?

I suspect it has to do with $ or status.

There must be plenty of scalpers in the queue hoping to cash in on the Apple craze The legitimate customers who can't afford to buy from the scalpers have to join the queue. There will always be queues, even in Spore we them queuing for kit kat dolls, free NDP tix, getting into train stations, using public toilets...