by In an earlier article we reported that customers in China seem particularly attracted to the gold iPhone, but that attraction may go much deeper than we originally thought. As reported by the Wall Street Journal (via 9to5 Mac), denizens of the world’s most populated country are now taking to applying cheap $2 stickers to silver iPhone 5s models (or even to the iPhone 5) in order to capture the look of the elusive device. How’s that for dedication?
This isn’t some isolated incident; quite the contrary. This morning, the WSJ reported that “dozens of online stores” are selling the decals, and judging from the marketing screenshots (which could very well be authentic gold iPhones), they do a decent job of mimicking the appearance of the popular device from a distance.
Source: Taobao.com
The WSJ article also included the copy from one of the advertisements: “‘Dear, you don’t need to sell your kidney for the new iPhone,’ one of the ads said. ‘Instead of paying 5288 yuan (the retail price of the 16-gigabyte iPhone 5s in China), you only need to spend 35 yuan to make your iPhone 5 look like a golden iPhone 5s in seconds.”
Taobao.com has been particularly successful with the tactic, and reportedly thousands of the stickers sold out within the first month they were offered. while not as popular, the option’s even available on this side of the pond through online retailers such as Amazon (although none of the options in question mimic the exact appearance of the gold iPhone 5s).
The gold iPhone 5s continues to be in short supply, although Apple announced earlier this month that they would be upping the production. That’s particularly welcome news for the Cupertino giant’s Chinese customers, who’ve taken to referring to the golden device as “Tuhao Jin,” or “local tyrant’s gold.”
Follow this article’s writer, Leif Johnson, on Twitter.
