Apple opened pre-orders for the iPhone Duo about four days ago, and shipping dates slipped into January of next year within seconds. With every product in extremely high demand and stock running low, scalpers are gathering to buy the device in large quantities and resell it at inflated prices. To counter this, Apple now limits each customer to two iPhone Duos.
The limit has so far been confirmed in the US, UK, Japan and Spain, and it is likely to apply worldwide. Some eBay listings are already offering the iPhone Duo for an eye-watering $5,000.
This is not the first time Apple has tried to tackle scalpers. The company has imposed similar restrictions many times before in China and other Western markets, with products such as MacBooks. However, there are many ways to circumvent these limits. Scalpers gather in groups and use multiple virtual credit cards, delivery addresses, email addresses and other tactics to get around them.
As demand continues to outpace supply, the purchase cap is Apple's latest effort to ensure that customers who want the device can actually get one at the listed price.
Source: GSMArena · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing