Black market iPads going for a fortune in China and UK


When iPads are scarce in their home country, you better believe they’re going to command a premium out there in non-America-land. Jobs today said they’re making iPads as fast as they can make them, but supply isn’t near great enough to start pushing it to the rest of the world just yet. Consider yourselves lucky, fellow Yanks — you could be spending nearly a grand (or, in one silly Briton’s case, far more than that) for the entry-level model.

The ironic part is, of course, that these things are costing a mint in China, where they are made.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=business/2010/04/08/voigt.hkong.ipad.gray.market.cnn

This interesting CNN story follows the exploits of a group of Hong Kong “entrepreneurs” who flew to the US, bought up all the iPads they could (about 200), and flew back to sell them on the streets of that great city. Sure, why not, as long as the TSA says it’s cool? They sell them for upwards of $800 each, making for quite a profit. And some people were buying them for re-resale in China, where, owing to the fact that these things had to be smuggled twice, they go for even more. It’s not exactly illegal, but somehow I doubt Apple would approve. Fortunately, I don’t care whether they approve or not, and neither do the Hong Kongians. Kongfolk?

If I can stand being around all my “friends” with iPads for long enough, I plan to buy one off Craigslist when the new version comes out. After all, at that point it’ll have a ton more stuff available and with luck I can get one that was treated gently.