From AFP:
In scenes reminiscent of a generation ago, Chinese are tapping friends and relatives travelling abroad to bring back electronic devices that are unavailable in China.
The irony is the object they desire is made in China and the US company responsible for the scarcity is proud of its free-thinking image — Apple Computers.
“The iPhone has brought back the planned-economy era,” said James Lei, director of the consumer electronics division at market research firm In-Stat China.
More than a year after its debut, analysts say plans to introduce the smart phone are conspicuously more advanced in West Africa than in China, the world’s largest mobile phone market, with more than 600 million cellphone users.
