The Chinese Line

The Chinese line

Here's news for Apple. There is no such thing as a Chinese line. Much to Apple's dismay and embarrassment, they had to stop sales of the iPhone 4S today in China's Apple stores because of a near riot at one of their Beijing stores. The new for China iPhone was supposed to go on sale yesterday starting at a rumored 7:00 AM. Well, the crowd grew to enormous proportions while waiting for the opening. As you can see from the picture, there doesn't seem to be any signs of orderly line formation or crowd control. When the store failed to open and the phone was declared not ready for sale, the mob grew unruly and threw eggs at their pristine windows.

This episode highlights two truths about Chinese people. One, they don't, or won't, wait in lines. At store openings, movie box offices, or elevators, the Chinese think nothing of pushing and elbowing their way to the front. If one person starts moving forward, the whole group surges forward too, not wanting to miss out on whatever the first person is after. The second truth about Chinese people are that they LOVE status symbols. The proof is all the fake Western goods they sell in their markets. Fake Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, and yes iPhones adorn every market. Even their government officials are not immune from showing off. Witness all the fancy European cars their leaders are seen riding around in. Here in the U.S. in Chinese predominant areas like Monterey Park, you can spot scores of Mercedes and BMW's parked in front of rather small and shabby houses. Why? Because one can show off their nice rides around town but not everybody knows the conditions you actually live in.

Unless a Chinese person has learned Western, and particularly British, etiquette, standing in line just is not in their DNA. The Cantonese in Hong Kong know how to do it. The Cantonese on the mainland don't. So unless Apple wants to give lessons on how to be a good citizen, I'd advise them not to advertise when their phones go on the market. They should not expect to see happy friendly people waiting patiently at the front door.