Jarir Bookstore is taking flak as they released the iPhone4 here in Saudi Arabia. The iPhone units on display were priced at SR5,499 for the 32Gb version and SR4,599 for the 16Gb.
According to SaudiMac who reported on the absurd iPhone 4 pricing, the units were from the UK.
So, what is a UK iPhone doing in the Middle East when even the British cannot get their hands on one.
Well, according to a post on DailyMail, the iPhones are being bought in the UK by professional gangs of traders to be sold in the Middle East and Asia. Long queues outside Apple Stores across Britain are not ordinary customers desperate to get their hands on the new iPhone 4, but runners who have been paid to stand in line by businessmen.
The British Apple Stores sell contract-free iPhones which make these stores a lucrative target for these brokers who buy the iPhones for £499 (SR2930) and £599 (SR3509) and sell them for vastly inflated profits to customers in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia where the iPhone is not yet on sale.
Do you still wonder why iPhones at Jarir Bookstore are priced the way they are?! Now you know.
[Sources: SaudiMac, DailyMail]
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