New iPhone release day draws no crowds in China

Speakers: Li Ningjing and Sam Duckett

[Photo: from Chinadaily]

Apple's iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus officially went on sale in China on Friday, though it doesn't seem like many people really cared.

Previous releases of Apple's iconic smartphone reliably drew massive crowds, frenzied enthusiasm and even scalper fights, but this time, the reaction was a bit more, shall we say muted?

At Apple's West Lake location in Hangzhou, a contingent of 30 to 40 security guards reportedly arrived at 6 a.m. on Friday morning to set up a maze of barricades to keep everything orderly when the big moment finally arrived.

But, at 8 a.m., when the doors did at last open, there were only two people in line.

By 8:43 a.m., the guards were forced to awkwardly take down the fencing they had set up only hours before. In other Apple Store locations on Friday, employees reportedly outnumbered customers at the beginning of the day.  

The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI.