Chinese Smuggler Caught 'Wearing' 94 iPhones

Nice Try, iPhone Smuggler. Nice Try.

Turns out, iPhones are expensive in China.

Expensive enough to inspire people into strapping dozens of the things to themselves in sheets of plastic armour and trying to make it through customs.

These photos have emerged on a Chinese social media site of a man who reportedly tried to go through Futian Port in China with 94 iPhones strapped to his body.

The man was apparently identified only by his gait - he had a " "weird walking posture, joint stiffness, muscle tension" and -- when forced through a metal detector -- tons and tons of Apple hardware around his waist.

The man had arrived from Hong Kong, where apparently iPhones are cheaper (or easier to get hold of on the black market).

So how expensive are iPhones in China? According to the FT, an unlocked 16GB iPhone 6 is around $872 compared to $649 in the US.

Since the average worker in China earns about $4,755 a year, that's about 18% of an average annual salary. Were that scaled up in the UK that would be an equivalent of £4770.

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