Malaysian Apple retailer swarmed by bargain hunters seeking $50 iPhone 5s

By Mike Wuerthele

Malaysian Apple retailer Switch was forced to cancel a clearance event with the iPhone 5s for $50 and iPads as low as $77, after a throng of 11,000 descended upon the company's warehouse sale.

Midnight queues were not allowed at the Switch location with the clearance items, yet formed anyway. The retailer attempted to hand out claim tickets to the first customers in line, but were flooded with customers as the store opened its doors causing an unsafe condition, and forcing the store's closure.

There was no way that the retailer was going to offer all the queued shoppers the iPhone 5s for $50, as the chain had only 10 of that particular model on offer for that price. Only one iPad Air 2 was available for $79, with a single unspecified 24-inch iMac available for about $260. In total, only 200 products were being cleared out, with most of them demonstration units.

Ultimately, the retailer had to put off the clearance sale on the iPhone 5s and other units "until further notice." After reopening, the retailer still offered shoppers small discounts on the 11-inch MacBook Air, iPhone 6 with 32GB, and iPhone X.