VietNamNet Bridge – Old iPhones and technology waste have been collected in developed countries and then carried to Shenzhen, China, where they are renewed before selling to Vietnam.

iPhone 3GS has been no longer manufactured since September 2012, when Apple launched iPhone 5 into the market. However, iPhone 3GS are still available in Vietnam, especially in rural areas.

The owners of hi-tech product shops may say that the iPhone 3GS available there are the second hand products, but they are nearly brand new with the quality equal to 95-98 percent of the original products.

However, experts said these iPhones became refused in developed countries, considered as e-waste. They were collected by a ring which later brought them to China where problems were fixed and sold for money.

The common characteristic of the products is that the covers of the phones do not look brand new, but there are no scratches on them. The buttons on the phone seem to be more rigid than brand new products, and it is more difficult to press them.

According to Do Minh H, a technician of an iPhone shop on Hai Ba Trung Street in Hanoi, the e-waste has undergone a lot of phases of a production chain carried out in a methodical and professional way to turn into an iPhone 3GS which can be sold for money.

After collecting the e-waste in developed countries, mostly from the maintenance units or mobile network operators, the collectors put the waste products in packs and brought them to China in consignments.

Chinese then classify the products to decide what they need to do with them. The phones, which still have good hardware, would have new covers to be sold as brand new products. The products with screen, chip or board problems would have the accessories replaced and renewed.

According to H, the renewed iPhone 3GS have been sold mostly to China, some South Asian countries, and Latin America, which are considered the potential markets.

When asked about the quality of the products, T, the owner of a mobile phone shop on Thai Ha Street in Hanoi said sometimes people can buy the products with high quality which have original mains and boards and replaced screens.

T said it costs some VND1.3 million to renew an iPhone 3GS. If counting on other expenses, an iPhone 3GS of this kind would have the cost price of VND1.7 million in Vietnam. As such, retailers can sell them at VND2-2.4 million.

However, the made-in-China iPhone 3GS are refused in urban areas. They can only be used in rural areas.

D, 28, who has bought a white iPhone 3GS at a mobile shop in Thanh Ha district of Hai Duong province, said he knows it was a second hand product, but he still decided to buy it because “it still can work properly.”

Also according to D, only some VIPs in his company have the synthetic iPhone 4, iPhone 4S or Galaxy S3, while workers like him mostly use iPhone 3GS made in China.

T, the owner of the shop in Hai Duong, has confirmed that the iPhone 3GS remains the best sellers among the products with the prices around VND2 million.

Dat Viet