Vendors cashing in on iPhone SIM issue
By Xu Chi |
November 16, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WITH Apple's iPhone 4 becoming popular among local residents, by-products of the cell phone, SIM cards cutters, are now becoming hot items on online trading platforms.
The cutters are designed to solve a problem for many iPhone 4 users - the ordinary SIM card is too big to fit into the phone's slot.
The tools are easy to use and are selling well online.
A cutter cost between 5 yuan (75 US cents) to 380 yuan on Taobao.com, and some vendors have sold more than 500 over the past 30 days.
However, as it turns out, iPhone 4 users don't have to spend a penny on turning their SIM cards into ones that fit the smart phone as China Mobile is offering a free service to cut the SIM cards.
According to an official with China Mobile's hotline 10086, customers can have their SIM cards cut for free at any of their offices across the city.
However, the service is only available to those who have registered their phone numbers with China Mobile using their ID cards, which they will have to produce to receive the free cutting service.
The official advised people not to cut the cards by themselves as they ran the risk of damaging them. She added that those who damaged their cards would have to go to a China Mobile office to apply for a new one.
A netizen nicknamed "hzdong6" on weiphone.com uploaded pictures of a damaged SIM card he had cut with a cheap card cutter bought online to warn others to be careful.
Although many online vendors claim that there will be no problem if the product is used properly, none of them say they will take responsibility for damaged SIM cards.
The cutters are designed to solve a problem for many iPhone 4 users - the ordinary SIM card is too big to fit into the phone's slot.
The tools are easy to use and are selling well online.
A cutter cost between 5 yuan (75 US cents) to 380 yuan on Taobao.com, and some vendors have sold more than 500 over the past 30 days.
However, as it turns out, iPhone 4 users don't have to spend a penny on turning their SIM cards into ones that fit the smart phone as China Mobile is offering a free service to cut the SIM cards.
According to an official with China Mobile's hotline 10086, customers can have their SIM cards cut for free at any of their offices across the city.
However, the service is only available to those who have registered their phone numbers with China Mobile using their ID cards, which they will have to produce to receive the free cutting service.
The official advised people not to cut the cards by themselves as they ran the risk of damaging them. She added that those who damaged their cards would have to go to a China Mobile office to apply for a new one.
A netizen nicknamed "hzdong6" on weiphone.com uploaded pictures of a damaged SIM card he had cut with a cheap card cutter bought online to warn others to be careful.
Although many online vendors claim that there will be no problem if the product is used properly, none of them say they will take responsibility for damaged SIM cards.
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