The wait in China to buy an iPhone 6 will soon be over with the smartphone now gaining permission to be sold in the Chinese market, after licencing delays. The devices will go on sale on October 17.
But as the Chutian Golden Newspaper reports, one sales boss has already capitalised on the frenzied demand for the product. The newspaper says that a man surnamed Liu, who ran a sales team in Wuchang, was worried that his group would not hit their monthly goal of Rmb300,000 ($48,864) in revenues. So at the end of a Glengarry Glenross-style sales meeting he told team members they would each get an Apple 6 (the literal translation of an iPhone in Mandarin ) if they reached their targets.
This certainly got the juices flowing and by September 20 the group blew through Rmb300,000 in sales. However, the staff were to be disappointed. Rather than give them the new phone (which Liu would have had to import via the Hong Kong grey market), he handed each an apple (yes, the fruit) with a number 6 painted on it. They were furious and didn’t seem to get the joke (if one was intended).
The newspaper then spoke to a lawyer with the Hubei Zunerguang law firm, who said the five employees wouldn’t have much chance of suing their boss as there were no outside witnesses to verify his verbal commitment or any formal confirmation that he really meant an iPhone 6 versus an ‘Apple with a 6’.
That said, Liu might find it hard to motivate the team in future…
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