An unassuming building in the bustling southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has become the largest hub for the stolen iPhone trade.
Located in the city’s Huaqiangbei electronic commercial street, the Feiyang Times building is known for selling second hand mobile devices from Western countries for cheap.
Many are traded in by western consumers to network operators or to phone repair shops.
But the tower’s fourth floor has become synonymous with the illicit phone trade, where thousands of iPhones snatched by balaclava-clad thieves in Europe and the US end up, according to the Financial Times.
China‘s ‘stolen iPhone building’, is considered to be one of the most important hubs in a supply chain of second hand technology that starts in Europe and ends up in the global south.
Hong Kong serves as a critical middleman in this supply chain where hundreds of second-hand device wholesalers are based, with many of them in a single industrial building in the Kwun Tong district.
Phone traders from Shenzhen will make the short trip to the building on 1 Hung To Road to view wholesales quantities of phones, before purchasing them in online auctions and bringing them back to Huaqiangbei.
This trade partly thrives thanks to Hong Kong’s status as a free trade port, where traders can avoid heavy import taxes.
The Feiyang Times building is known for selling second hand mobile devices from Western countries
It has become synonymous with the illicit phone trade, where thousands of iPhones snatched off the hands of people by balaclava-clad thieves in Europe and the US end up
Hong Kong serves as a critical middleman in this supply chain
Once back in Shenzhen, companies will advertise selling and buying phone with labels such as ‘iCloud locked’ on apps, as well as on WeChat, Facebook and Whatsapp.
Buyers in Shenzhen will often dismantle these phones to resell their screens, chips and circuit boards.
One Shenzhen-based phone seller told the FT: ‘The passcode-locked ones were probably stolen in the US, then sold in Hong Kong, and sent to places like the Middle East.’
Several victims of phone theft in the West have seen their mobile devices eventually end up in the Chinese city.
Some have even received threatening messages from anonymous individuals in Shenzhen demanding they remove their phones from Apple’s Find My iPhone system to make the phone more profitable in the resale market.
Shenzhen is located in the south of China next to the border with Hong Kong.
Known as the country’s ‘Silicon Valley’ due to its expertise in electronics, Huaqiangbei is also home to large retail outlets selling used consumer goods.
Videos on social media platform TikTok show the massive electronics market in Huaqiangbei, with clips showing varieties of mobile phones and electronic devices.
The UK’s Metropolitan Police estimated that phone theft in London is a £50 million-a -year industry.
Buyers in Shenzhen will often dismantle these phones to resell their screens, chips and circuit boards
Victims of phone theft in the West have seen their mobile devices eventually end up in the Chinese city
Shenzhen is located in the south of China next to the border with Hong Kong
The UK’s Metropolitan Police estimated that phone theft in London is a £50 million-a -year industry
Cops said they seized 1,000 stolen devices and made 230 arrests related to phone theft in one week
Figures have shown that a mobile phone is reported as stolen in London every six minutes
Criminals often target pedestrians in busy locations such as outside stations, shopping centres or concert venues
Cops said they seized 1,000 stolen devices and made 230 arrests related to phone theft in one week.
Figures have shown that a mobile phone is reported as stolen in London every six minutes.
There were almost 91,000 phones snatched from Londoners in 2022, at an average of 248 a day, with only two per cent of the stolen devices recovered.
Criminals often target pedestrians in busy locations such as outside stations, shopping centres or concert venues, and usually approach from behind, meaning victims aren’t aware of how vulnerable their phone is until it’s too late.
The worst-hit borough was the City of Westminster, where tourists flock for theatre shows and high-end shopping, with 18,863 reported incidents in the year to December – up 47 per cent from 12,836 in the previous 12 months.
Camden was the second worst affected, with 4,806 incidents, followed by Southwark (4,376), Hackney (2,761), Newham (2,585), Lambeth (2,394) and Islington (2,117).
In London as a whole more than 52,000 phones were stolen last year.
