iPhone 4 "Readily Available in Apple Stores"

Almost since the day it was launched in mainland China in September 2010, the iPhone 4 has been virtually impossible to buy directly from the official Apple stores in Sanlitun Village and Xidan. I know this. Having destroyed my previous mobile in a "water" accident in early September, I'd purchased a cheap Nokia to tide me by until the iPhone 4 came out. RMB 5,000 was definitely a lot of money, but - I told myself - it was an "investment."

However, massive demand soon made buying an iPhone 4 as arduous a task as getting one of those much-fabled "China Green Cards." You couldn't buy it in the Apple store; the online store crashed; the online "booking" system became a real-time lesson in understanding the term "bottleneck" - with the bottle still corked. In Bainaohui and other electronic markets, prices of imported (and alleged knock-off) iPhones spiraled to as much as RMB 6,500 for a 16GB iPhone 4 (RMB 500 more than the 32GB's official retail price). It all became a bit farcical, and I began to give up.

Anyway, I had gotten used to my RMB 240 Nokia. It did the job. I could text and call. Sure, I couldn't have anyone in my address book whose name was longer than about 8 characters, but I was consoled by the fact that I could at least remember my contacts' identities by assigning them with cutesy icons like "guy with baseball cap," "guy with sock hat and goatee" and "chicken." I watched with scorn as friends answered work emails on their fancy smartphones, thinking "email away - but you don't have a mini-torch in your phone just in case there's a blackout, do you now?"

Now, basically overnight, it seems that the iPhone 4 is magically available once more in the Apple stores. The news has been reported on various Chinese sites, and and this article from our comrades over at People's Daily's English site affirms that "the domestic tension over the supply of authentic iPhone 4 products has been relieved quite a lot." Quite a lot, eh? Well, a friend has actually just confirmed that she went up to the Apple store in the Village to find the iPhone 4 readily available.

This can't come to any good. I still fully expect the scalpers to descend on the Village once more and drain the iPhone 4 stocks faster than you can say "Pingguo Si." But if I can beat them to the punch, my Nokia's days might be numbered. If anyone's after a durable, lightweight and torch-equipped phone, get in touch - I'll give you a good price.