Apple Store Ginza – Chinese iPhone resellers hire homeless to wait in line

Both of these were further back in the line (around a block and a half from the store along Chuo Dori heading northeast towards Nihonbashi) .  Chinese resellers actually hired around a hundred homeless people to wait in this line at the Ginza store.  The actual Chinese buyers came afterwards and replaced these line waiters.

Only a few people at the front of the line (like Ayano TDO) were able to secure a 6 Plus.  Apple Store employees eventually announced to those waiting in line that all 6 Pluses were sold out (it seems that most stores around the world, saw a very small allotment of 6 Pluses for walk-in buyers).  Obviously, some of the Chinese resellers were not happy and caused a commotion (at the Ginza branch).

This was repeated at several other Apple Stores in Japan (the Shinsaibashi store in Osaka was also reported by media to have had over a thousand people in line; majority of them Chinese nationals).

Opinion: Apple needs to re-think their launches especially when it comes to China.  I know it’s a logistical issue with the necessary government approvals that must be secured and that Apple’s launch schedule sometimes has to proceed like it did in this case.  But it’s coming at a cost with the inflated black market prices (in mainland China), not to mention, the methods employed by resellers (many of the larger ones are associated with organized crime) which in this case, may drive away actual customers in the intended market (in this case, I heard there were Japanese buyers who decided not to bother).

China/Japan relations have also not been on the best of terms in recent years