Ballsy Teen Who Sold His Own Authentic White iPhones Earns $130,000 (And Possible Jail Time) [WhiteIphone]

A Big apple teen with a keenness for electronics and serious initiative got uninterested in looking forward to white iPhone 4s. So he skipped Apple and ordered the mandatory parts from Foxconn. Now he has $130,000-and legal threats.

Seventeen year old Fei Lam, only a high school senior, tells the Observer that ” I knew a guy from a number of years back that had somewhat of a relationship with folks in Foxconn.” This ” guy” was ready to export the exact same components that go into Apple’s certified phones straight to Queens, where Fei packaged them up and sold them online as conversion kits. Clever! And lucrative-the grey market business has put over $130,000 in Fei’s pockets since August-a sum he hopes might actually help him pay for a point in computer science or business at NYU.

At least, that was the plan, until he received a threatening letter from a non-public investigator, accusing the enterprising lad of ” selling stolen goods.” Fei isn’t sure who the letter was sent on behalf of (though it shouldn’t be too hard to narrow it down!), but worries he might face the staggering six-figure fines or imprisonment that face others convicted of marketing ” stolen goods” online.

But Fei’s got guts, and is grabbing a lawyer rather than shutting down his site. Whether or not he makes it to NYU, it’s clear he’s got a good bit of industrial acumen already. [ The Observer via Fast Company ]

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This post is tagged: company source, computer science, conversion kits, grey market, imprisonment, legal threats, market business