Second-hand Apple China

Online sales of refurbished Apple gear have begun in China, according to a company announcement. As in the United States and a number of other countries, the Chinese program takes products returned to Apple and submits them for quality testing; approved products are then resold at a lower cost. Reuters notes that prices for major refurbished products range from 308 yuan ($44) for an iPod shuffle, to more than 14,000 yuan ($2,047) for an iMac.

While sales of refurbished products are common elsewhere for Apple, they may be particularly important in China, where the middle and upper classes are comparatively tiny and currency is worth nearly seven times less than the US dollar. The used products remain expensive in China compared to their relative value in America; still unavailable is the iPhone, for which a carrier deal has not been reached, at least in part due to pricing considerations.

by MacNN Staff