There’s a huge demand for the iPhone in China, a demand so big that Apple is continually struggling to meet it. That means there’s plenty of business for scalpers who obtain the device any way they can, just to sell it off for a huge profit in the grey and black markets.
And these scalpers are smart and tech-minded. To make the whole process of buying iPhones a lot easier, scalpers have built a special application that purchases the smartphones in bulk from the Apple online store. Even worse, it runs on Windows. Oh, the irony.
Here’s how it works. The software is first preloaded with all the customer information required to order products from the Apple online store, including credit card details. It then monitors the store for stock availability, and alerts scalpers once the iPhone is available to purchase.
Because the necessary details are already stored in the software, all a scalper has to do is enter a verification code and the purchase is automatically made — long before a legitimate customer has chance to make place order. As you can see from the image above, there’s also an application for iPad purchasing.
iPhones are big business for scalpers in China, so much so that M.I.C. Gadget reports one scalper is looking to take on employees who will use this software to make iPhone purchases, making around 60 Chinese yuan (or about $9.45) for each order.
There’s clearly a lot of money to be made from iPhones in China, but it certainly doesn’t seem like the most legitimate business. Until Apple can meet that demand, though, it shows no signs of stopping.
