Apple suspends sales of iPhone 4S at Beijing flagship store

Mobs of customers and organized scalpers forced Apple to suspend initial sales of its iPhone 4S smartphone at one of its two stores in downtown Beijing. A salesperson at the company's store in the Sanlitun shopping district announced through a megaphone early Friday morning that the store would not open its doors, according to customer Wang Qiannan, who remained waiting outside of the store. Wang said the store's staff did not explain why they were not opening, but suspects it was out of safety concerns. At least 1,000 people who were hired by scalpers to stand in line and wait for the phone to go on sale were displeased with the decision to keep the store closed. A bag of broken eggs was found on the ground in front of the store and egg residue was seen on the store's glass walls. A second Apple store located in the Xidan shopping district opened its doors shortly before 7:00 a.m. and sold its iPhone 4S stock within one hour. Apple previously announced that the iPhone 4S, the latest version of the device, would be released in China and 21 other countries on Jan. 13. The phone will be available at Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as through online retailers. One of China's largest online retailers, 360buy.com, had the phone available for purchase as of 10 a.m. Friday.