It's not just techies: Thieves are also excited about the new iPhone
Worried that nabbing one of the iPhone 6S Pluses is going to break the bank? Be glad you don't live in Brazil. Due to tariffs and taxes in the South American country, an iPhone 6 costs over $1,200, National Geographic reports. As a result, smuggling phones illegally into Brazil is a billion-dollar business — and the phones being moved into the country are typically stolen from the United States.
Because American smartphones are mainly subsidized through contracts with carriers, smartphones in the U.S. are relatively inexpensive. But in Brazil, it would take the average person 41 days of work to even afford the price tag ($1,286). In Vietnam, it takes the average person over 181 days of work to afford an iPhone.
It's no wonder then that there's a large overseas market for stolen phones. In 2014, 2.1 million smartphones were stolen in the U.S.:
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Stolen American phones have been found on every continent on Earth aside from Antarctica. Read the whole story over at National Geographic.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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