Last night, thieves in Japan hit three separate locations to steal stock of the iPhone 5 before its launch today, reports the WSJ.
At a time when thousands of eager Apple fans were already lined up outside outlets around the world, Osaka police said 191 of Apple's latest must-have smartphone were stolen in the wee hours leading up to the official launch. As of Friday at noon, three stores were hit across Japan's western metropolis in an unusual string of robberies targeting the hottest tech toy this fall.
At around 3:00 am, police found that 33 iPhone 5s were missing from a KDDI au-brand shop in Ibaraki city. Two hours later a Softbank store in Osaka city was wiped clean of its entire 116 unit stock. A nearby au store also had 42 iPhone 5s taken which was nearly its entire stock.
Apple news, rumors, tutorials, price drop alerts, in your inbox every evening, free.
Unsubscribe at any time.
Success!
You have been subscribed.
Add Comment
Would you like to be notified when someone replies or adds a new comment?
Yes (All Threads)
Yes (This Thread Only)
No
Notifications
Would you like to be notified when we post a new Apple news article or tutorial?
Yes
No
Comments (12)
Comments are closed for this article.
0
android - September 23, 2012 at 1:34pm
I got an iphone 5 on launch day. What a piece of garbage. Going back to android. You can't customize ios for shit like android.
0
ineedmyiphone - September 21, 2012 at 10:45pm
So these are the people that stole my phone. Fuc*ing bestbuy still ain't got my phone
0
cciev - September 21, 2012 at 7:38pm
awesome.
0
Iphone_hachintosh - September 21, 2012 at 6:39pm
So useless to steal apple product
Apple can just disable the serial number so the next time you sync or try to activate the iPhone it won't work
It is also so easy to check if the serial number has been disable by checking with apple warranty check
Takes less than 2 min
So ask for serial number prior buying
0
me - September 21, 2012 at 6:23pm
good lord...its a PHONE
0
angel_92701 - September 21, 2012 at 5:25pm
what will the do with them(iPhones )
The can track the iphone with the serial #.
that so stupid. and more stupid is for the people you will use or buy it.
0
SBHauser1 - September 21, 2012 at 5:18pm
Love it
0
Vang - September 21, 2012 at 4:01pm
Samsung would've loved it to be them. Great publicity.
0
SpikeyMikey - September 21, 2012 at 3:58pm
You never see anyone stealing Samsung phones before a launch - I wonder why?
0
Glocknine - September 21, 2012 at 4:53pm
Because samsung dont use beggars to transport their product to the store?
0
AnDSukAZ - September 21, 2012 at 11:12pm
Maybe they don't want Galaxy Suck3 that you have to drag around a charger to make sure you make it thru the day or simply use an OS that are put together for a larger plastic phone?