Have you ever wondered what happens to a discarded iPhone? Does it crackle in the sun? Does it wallow in the electronic filth until its battery leaks and runs? Maybe it just sits there like a dusty brick. Or maybe, just maybe, it breathes life anew in the land of China.
As we have posted before, the Apple iPhone is very popular in China. There is a healthy second-hand market for iPhones. According to China’s ITHome.com, a technology blog and news site, photos posted online showcase some of the seedier elements of the secondhand iPhone trade.
According to itHome, many of the iPhones sold in China online as new are refurbished models but they aren’t officially refurbished, but rather, are made to look new through the black magic that is China’s grey market. Some of the machines come from all over the world but most come from the United States, Japan, or Hong Kong. Because the machines are purchased on the low end, many of the machines are either heavily scuffed or have broken parts such as shattered screens.
The broken nature of these phones doesn’t bother the Chinese grey market techs. The machines are stripped down and paired with after market parts. After the machines are put together and ready for sale, the grey market merchants repackage said phones; the packaging is so good that the refurbished phones even come with new serial number stickers.
震惊，网友揭秘深圳iPhone翻新过程（多图）[ITHome.com]
Comments
7 responses to “This Is What Happens To Your Discarded iPhone”
That’s why whenever I dispose of a phone, hard drive or any technology for that matter, the sledge hammer comes out and its reduced to a pile of tiny smashed parts, no rebirthing, but most importantly no way to retrieve any personal data. Plus its a little bit fun!
That makes a lot of sense from a security point of view, but I can’t help think that’s a bit of a waste. Mind you, I don’t throw away my old phones/HDDs either.
I have a collection of cup coasters made from old hard drives. 😀
Because nothing protects your coffee table like a metallic plate filled with old porn.
what’s more interesting is yet another Asian person with a random English word tattoo
Hey, we’ve been doing it for years. I still think it’s stupid though (both ways).
It’s interesting when Asian people, English-speaking included, get tattoos with English words?
Random? I bet he knows what it says, what it means and understands that it’s spelled correctly. Meanwhile Brodude keeps telling everyone his tattoo means bravery when it actually reads potplant
potplant sounds pretty tame. All the ones I’ve personally seen actually says much much worse stuff than that.
Yes it actually says fish sticks forever when you see the full photo.