Apple said Friday it was suspending sales of the new iPhone at its China stores after fans desperate to get their hands on it fought with security and threw eggs at an official outlet. Police detained at least two people outside the Beijing shop on Friday when angry crowds who had queued for hours in freezing temperatures for the Chinese launch of the iPhone 4S were left furious after being refused entry.
An AFP reporter outside the store in the upmarket Sanlitun district saw frustrated shoppers attack a security guard after police with megaphones shouted at the 1,000-strong crowd to go home and said the gadget would not go on sale. "We waited here all night. It's not fair," said 18-year-old Tom Sun. "We're angry because this American company told us it would open its doors at 7:00 am."
Apple said its other mainland China stores - another in Beijing and three in Shanghai - had sold out of the new device within hours. "The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible," said spokeswoman Carolyn Wu. "Unfortunately we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhones will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being."
Apple said customers could still order iPhones online and at other authorised retailers in China. A worker at a small, downtown China Unicom shop said 80 iPhone 4S models had sold out in four hours. Some of the people gathered outside the Sanlitun store from the early hours on Friday told AFP they had been promised 100 yuan (almost $16) each by touts to stand in line and wait for the doors to open.
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