China Jumps The Shark With iPhone 5 Pre-Orders

iPhone riot in Shanghai
For the second time in as many years, Chinese consumer tech retailers are trying to sell consumers on the iPhone 5 before it even exists.

The Chinese consumer tech market is once again at the center of iPhone 5 rumors. According to Reuters, pre-orders for the iPhone 5 have begun in earnest in China, in spite of the fact that the sixth-generation iPhone has yet to be officially announced — or even hinted at — by Apple:

“Sellers on Taobao, a unit of Alibaba Group, are accepting orders for the iPhone 5, in some cases asking for a deposit of 1,000 yuan ($160) for the new phone. One seller, “Dahai99888?, who started accepting pre-orders this week, is asking for full payment upfront, at a cool 6,999 yuan ($1,100).”

You’ll recall that last year’s anticipation for the iPhone 5's announcement and release led to Chinese iPhone case manufacturers selling what were purported to be iPhone 5 cases, well ahead of the eventual fall release of the 2011 iPhone. At the time, some in the tech community believed that these manufacturers had access to the iPhone 5's specs, and were prognosticating the iPhone 5 based on the case designs. In the end, however, the iPhone 4S turned out to be a mere refresh of the iPhone 4, and the iPhone 5 cases were rendered useless.

Ironically, some of those bogus 2011 iPhone 5 cases were sold on Alibaba, the same e-commerce platform company used to take these pre-orders.

This time around, however, Chinese consumer tech resellers are being a bit more shrewd in their attempt to capitalize on the ever-crescendoing buzz about the iPhone 5:

“Taobao sellers that Reuters spoke with said they planned to buy the iPhone 5 in Hong Kong or the United States and then bring it to mainland China. Apple products are often available in Hong Kong before they are released on the mainland. The sellers could not promise a specific delivery time.”

This would appear to be a tenuous plan at best to make good on mainland Chinese consumers’ pre-orders for the iPhone 5, since it remains to be seen when — or if — the rumored iPhone 5 will make its way into mainland China.

You’ll also recall that there have been past issues with the sale of Apple products in China. In mid-January of this year, there was a near-riot at an Apple store in China over customers not getting the iPhone 4S. Similar ire could result in this current pre-order scheme, especially considering that consumers are paying such a premium for an iPhone 5 that still doesn’t exist.

And with the iPhone 5 expected to be announced sometime in the early fall, those who have pre-ordered the next iPhone in China could still have months to wait before even seeing the finished product.