Deep report: The hard times of the iPad smuggling game

In the early morning of March 16, 100 supposedly were lined outside an Apple store in the suburbs of San Francisco, waiting for the launch of the new IPad in a cold rain, and Tuo was a member of the queue. By the time he opened the door, he was the first person to buy two ipads-two was the limit Apple had set for each customer's purchase. To be sure, Tuo wears a bright red hat and directs people to put the iPad they buy into a silver Mercedes SUV in the parking lot. More than 20 new ipads were installed in the trunk, and Wang Billiton drove the Mercedes to a nearby shabby barber massage parlor. There, more than 20 tablets worth more than 12000 dollars were put into a red, white and blue woven bag, and Tuo quickly put the bag into the other car outside the back door. They will all be shipped to China, said Amy, a 30-year-old hair stylist, who also took part in the operation outside the Apple store before dawn. She refused to disclose her full name. The IPad is about to start their journey to China, ironically, where they produce and assemble. They may be packed in suitcases, flown to China by tourists, and may be taken to duty-free Hong Kong by the guide, and smuggled into the Chinese mainland in the students ' backpacks. The contradiction between the huge demand for Apple products and the severe shortage of local supplies has spawned a thriving black market. In San Francisco, a 499-dollar 16G ipad with a tax price of $540-could be sold to more than 1000 dollars in Shanghai the next day. It sold more than 3 million units on the first weekend after a new iPad with a 4G network and sharper retina screens. Just check the time of the first American flight to China, and you will know roughly how long the first IPad will arrive in China, said an Apple employee who has not been allowed to speak on the company's behalf. Companies that manufacture IPad accessories such as leather sets and loudspeakers also hire people to line up on the day of release, say anonymous sources in the industry. He said accessory manufacturers could not see Apple's products in advance, so they had to grab a new product when the new IPad and IPhone were on sale before adapting the production line to produce the right new accessories. The lucrative business of a man called ox, like Tuo, is quite profitable. They pay a man like Amy--the jargon of a nurse (nurses)--20 to 30 dollars per person, queuing up to buy the IPad and IPhone, and then ship them to China and sell them on the black market. The cost of sending an iPad to China via an intermediary is only 12 dollars, and no wonder Tuo and his peers think it's a worthwhile business. But because Chinese customs require some American carriers not to take the list of items such as the IPad, require passengers to declare the electronic products they carry and support 10% of import tariffs,It has become increasingly difficult and expensive to smuggle equipment into China. BIZ Express and Global Courier Services, two small transport companies, say they are no longer accepting orders for the IPad. BIZ Company in Flemont, Calif., posted a tip on its website in March: Our warehouses are no longer receptive to the iPad to implement recent customs notices. UPS and FedEx, the top two U.S. express companies, did not comment. A new IPad is one of 20 items that travellers should declare and pay for when they pass, according to a website from the official Guangzhou daily, the local government mouthpiece, Shenzhen, which adjoins Hong Kong. I stopped carrying the iPad a few months ago because the Shenzhen customs is very strict now, says a mainland student who studies in Hong Kong. He declined to disclose the reward for smuggling the iPad. It is a double whammy that Apple is now selling new products in several countries to increase supply and depress black market prices. It's a lot harder than in the last few years, and Amy's own hair is dyed red in the barber's shop in San Francisco, where she speaks for a young man with a mohawk. The owner of an electronics store in Oakland, Calif., says his goal this year is just to balance the budget, and business is not as good as it is today. In the previous two generations of ipads, he sent out more than 1000 ipads, earning 50 to 100 dollars from each ipad that was sent to Hong Kong buyers. This year, he can only send 250 of ipad FedEx's 2-pound tablet to China at a rate of $110 a month after the IPad was released in the United States. On the same day, the new IPad was sold in 10 areas, including Hong Kong, which seriously affected demand. The whole industry is dead, he complains. There is an oversupply, and the iPad is already flooded in the market. He says he has only been to several stores in the San Francisco Bay Area looking for ipad sourcing, while the market for ipads in China is falling. Despite the increase in supply, the IPad is still in short supply in China. Last week, Taobao's ipad was priced at $1100 trillion, even though the price of 600 to 700 dollars was more common. The IPad and the IPhone have become a sign of Western trends and status for increasingly mobile Chinese, even though they are often the ones who buy them from Apple stores at the latest. Sources in the smuggling circle say smugglers will be stocked in several countries, but the United States remains their main battleground because the stores are the most abundant. In the Friday, the IPad in Hong Kong shops was sold out in a few hours. They are now selling the IPad, and the U.S. stores still have plenty of supply. Chinese Nurse (nurses)Easy to identify-they went into the shop, handed the clerk a note with the desired product model, and immediately left when they got the item. Ordinary customers tend to open the package before leaving the store to try out a few questions to the clerk. The apples are too big for them to hit the market with supply. Before the sale, the production may have lasted for six months and may have been filled with warehouses. Now they are also on sale in Asia and Australia, 16 hours earlier than here, said the shopkeeper at the Oakland store.