The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus finally made their debuts in China last week. Those fearing Chinese iPhone users would be sucker punched by bent iPhones need not worry anymore, as the second biggest mobile carrier in the People’s Republic, China Unicom, is offering in-house pocket enlargement, reports Ubergizmo. Wait, what?
Related: Check out our iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus reviews
A photo, which made the rounds on Chinese social media site Weibo, shows a reporter and a tailor at one of the carrier’s retail stores. The tailor is busy enlarging the pockets of people who’ve just bought the iPhone 6 Plus. This isn’t a common practice, especially when Android phones that are even bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus already exist. Based on the popularity of phablets in China and other Asian countries, we tend to believe this is nothing more than a publicity stunt, albeit a clever one.
Recent reports hint that Chinese customers favor the iPhone 6 Plus over its smaller twin, the iPhone 6. Apple has even gone so far as to adjust production to meet demand for the larger model, supply chain sources say. The need to enlarge one’s pockets doesn’t seem to be affecting sales, though.
Funny enough, China Unicom’s service isn’t all that original to begin with. KPN, a mobile carrier in the Netherlands, offered a similar tailoring service when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched in the country last month. Still, at least it brings attention to China Unicom, which is what publicity stunts are about, after all.