Apple Was 'Taken By Surprise' at Near-Riot During iPhone 4S Launch in China

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Posted January 14, 2012 at 7:21pm by iClarified

Apple was 'taken by surprise' at the violence that broke out during its iPhone 4S launch in Beijing, said CEO Tim Cook.

The WSJ reports that local police ordered Apple to close the Beijing store after determining that the situation wasn't safe. The company rushed to control fallout out from the incident and halted the in-store sale of iPhones in all its Chinese stores.

In an interview, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the situation was "unfortunate" and "we will learn some things for the future and change some things", adding that safety was of the "utmost importance" to the company.

Cook also indicated that Apple had "taken all necessary precautions,"

"I think we were all taken by surprise," he said.

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Apple Was 'Taken By Surprise' at Near-Riot During iPhone 4S Launch in China

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Psst - January 14, 2012 at 7:49pm

If Apple didn't create false demand for the iPhone, that event in China wouldn't of happened. Lesson learned?

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He - January 14, 2012 at 8:13pm

Apple never created false demand. You as a customers have a choice whether to buy its products or not. Apple's latest device will always be so popular that even everyone in china would like to put their hands on the iphone.

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sidewinder - January 14, 2012 at 9:10pm

can you clarify what you mean by false demand and how apple created it? If Apple could cause such a demand for their product as to result in rioting why would they learn a lesson and not do it again? Such demand for their product will only make them money which is all any company really cares about.

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noel - January 15, 2012 at 12:30am

i think what he means is that Apple continually under stock their iPhone supply to create more demand. apple should've have realized how many people were going to want one in china (1.4B people) and stocked the product accordingly. then they say they were 'taken by surprise'? please..

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Sillydrew - January 15, 2012 at 2:40am

It's called preorder. What? They don't do that in china?

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hugh jass - January 15, 2012 at 4:39am

not true. scalpers want to buy every one to create a demand. no matter what, scalping is very much a part of chinese culture. they will try to make money off anything(i guess you can see it's the entrepreneur spirit lol). there used to be a big problem with train tickets but now they require id to buy it. it's not a perfect solution but better than nothing. here there is a 2 limit with id only for the 4s purchase. but people still don't want to wait on line so they give their id and pay 150rmb(30usd?) to a scalper. better than waiting in line in the cold. i don't think the quantity is the problem. scalpers want to get all of it. at the worst, you can always return it.

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Junaid - January 15, 2012 at 8:00am

Do u have any idea what u r talking.

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MacCrookPro - January 14, 2012 at 7:26pm

dayum... this isn't good.

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