Du, the UAE’s second largest telecom company and official reseller of iPhone 4 devices has banned all prepaid sales of iPhone 4 devices due to the fact they’re being sold in the black market at 50 to 80 percent more than their original price.
Reported byArabianBusinessSmartphones sold unlocked for AED2,100 (almost USD $325) under the pre-paid package were being traded on the black market at a 50 to 80 percent mark-up, said Farid Faraidooni.
According toTom Garaon FT Tilt, iPhone 4 devices are notoriously hard to attain in countries with no official iPhone presence which results in high premiums in order to get one.
It appears Du’s network detected a number of the sold iPhone 4 smartphones being inactive inside the UAE which raised a flag that led them to investigate. The results showed that devices sold by Du were actually operating in neighboring countries.
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Sales assistants at Etisalat stores, the UAE’s other telecom company said they have also been instructed to suspend sales of the prepaid iPhone 4 across Dubai, but blamed the decision on a lack of stock. Yeah right.
Story byAhmad F Al-Shagra
Co-founder of Nadrus.com, Ex-Editor of The Next Web ME, trainer, blogger, and programmer.Co-founder of Nadrus.com, Ex-Editor of The Next Web ME, trainer, blogger, and programmer.
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