Apple said it is now accepting pre-orders for iPhone 4s in China and limiting customers to one phone per purchase, a measure that could give regular consumers a way to beat scalpers who have been selling marked-up devicesdirectly in front of Apple's retail stores in Shanghaiand Beijing.


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Customers in the world's largest mobile market must now try to place an order on the company's Chinese website using their identification number, but the system didn't work during a Monday afternoon test. On one of the final steps of the reservation process, the website offers two dates for in-store pickup. But when either date is selected, the site says that date is unavailable and asks customers to try again in another day.


果（Apple）说其现在正接受iPhone 4在中国的预订，并限制每次只能购买一部，这一举措可使普通消费者击败黄牛党，这些黄牛招摇地在上海和北京的苹果零售店门前以高于市价的价格兜售手机。



Scalpers in China, known locally for their creativity -- they've even auctioned off queue numbers at hospitals -- have been working overtime since the iPhone 4 arrived last month, calling around to find tips on when the country's four Apple stores would have the devices in stock and lining up early to buy iPhones in bulk. They have been reselling the phones marked up by 10% or more. (Apple sells the phones for 4,999 yuan [$750] for the 16-gigabyte version and 5,999 yuan for the 32GB one.)


作为全球最大手机市场的消费者，中国的消费者现在必须在苹果中文官网上使用身份证号进行预订，但在周一下午的测试中系统无法运行。在预订流程的最后一步，网站提供了两个上门取货的日期。但无论选择哪个日期，网站都说该日期无法取货，请求消费者尝试其他日期。



Prior to China's National Day Holiday, each buyer was limited to two iPhones, but scalpers showed up in groups and could buy more than 20 per day.


中国的黄牛颇具创造力，他们甚至做起了医院挂号排队的生意。从iPhone4上个月到货开始，他们就一直加班加点，想尽办法打听四家苹果专卖店到货的时间，早早地排队抢购大量iPhone。他们将这些手机以高于市价10%或以上的价格转售给消费者。（苹果官方售价为16GB版本4,999元人民币（750美元），32GB版本5,999元人民币。）



It's unclear why Apple didn't take online pre-orders of the iPhone 4 on its website when the device first went on sale. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the scalping issue, or why the company put the new measures in place.


国庆节前，每位购买者只能购买两部iPhone，但黄牛成群结队地出现，每天能买20多部。



Loretta Chao