It was recently Chinese New Year, and to celebrate, thousands of people flocked to a well-known Buddhist temple in the country’s Guangdong province to make offerings.
One Apple super-fan apparently decided to eschew cash donations for something far more valuable, however: his new iPhone 6 Plus.
A shot of the man depositing the super-sized Apple smartphone in the temple’s donation box was featured in Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post. The saddest part? His generous offering was rejected.
According to the report, temple staff retrieved the handset and returned it to the man, saying that only cash could be donated, and that “monks had no use for an iPhone.” The man then took back the iPhone and gave several 100 yuan notes instead. Given that even a basic iPhone model costs around 5,300 yuan ($846) in the country, we can’t help but think the temple lost out.
Apparently he wasn’t the only person to try and donate a smartphone, either.
Returned iPhone notwithstanding, the story is another example of what a luxury item the iPhone is considered in China, which has become one of Apple’s most important markets in recent times. Apple took the top spot for smartphone sales in China last quarter for the first time in the company’s history: leapfrogging brands including Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi, thanks to the enormous success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Apple also recently beat out other luxury fashion brands like Gucci and Chanel to be named the favorite brand of China’s elite.
Just so long as you don’t ask monks, that is. Based on today’s news we assume they’re all Android users.
Source: SCMP
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
4 responses to “Buddhist temple refuses man’s iPhone 6 donation”
I am a Hare Krishna monk, which means I am better situated than a buddhist, as they are impersonalists and can only reach the void, or at best the brahmajyoti. Thus I make my claim for the iPhone 6+ donation. I can be reached via this login, thanks.
What a stupid article…. Of course they rejected the “gift”. That doesn’t mean they’re “Android users” it means they’re monks and they have absolutely no use for something like that. They need money to buy food and supplies to help needy people, not flashy electronics that they then have to try to peddle to someone on the street for cash. It seems more like the guy donating it just wanted the attention.
China by the way. I’m guessing it is a fake one.
I don’t quite get what exactly this article is implying, is it implying iphone as a luxury thing in China ? monks uses android ? or monk was not supposed to reject iphone ? or the temple is stupid and lost since they rejected iphone ?
LOL what an article ;)
I still not understand what’s the relation with android phone, so , if people not using iphone, then assumable they are using android phone ? err … what about blackberry, what about feature phone, tizen, etc etc ;p
let say if the iphone was not rejected, then what you expect ? the monks to use iphone ? you expect them to use expensive iphone and then the new headline come out “MONKS USES IPHONE, IS THIS EVEN SPIRITUALITY ?”
or you expect them to seel the iphone ? … another headline came out “EVEN MONKS SELL IPHONE FOR DONATION”
or worst you expect them to donate the iphone to hungry children to overcome their hunger ? ;p
Stupid article