At a mere $492 USD*, Apple is offering its latest iPhone at a much more palatable price for its fans in mainland China than previous iterations. Nevertheless, the term โkidney machineโ (่พๆบ, our translation) is still used to refer to Appleโs smartphones.
A Kidney For An iPhone
Four years ago, a 17-year-old boy from Anhui province sold one of his kidneys in order to buy an iPhone. Through Tencentโs QQ messaging app, he connected with several black market kidney agents who found a buyer for his kidney and made arrangements for the surgery. After the operation was over, the 17-year-old received 22,000 RMB for his kidney (link in Chinese). Subsequently, his health began to deteriorate.
Thus, the term โkidney machineโ was born. Itโs worth noting that at the time, iPhones werenโt exclusive just because they were insanely expensive. Even if you had the money โ in those days, an iPhone ran for about 10,000 RMB or almost 1,500 USD โ you might not be able to buy one due to a limited stock of iPhones in mainland China. Hardcore Apple fans from China, as well as enterprising Apple resellers, would sometimes travel all the way to New York City to line up for an iPhone (or several).
Though iPhones are much easier to get a hold of nowadays, the term โkidney machineโ has stuck. Even with the rise of higher end Chinese phones, such as Huaweiโs Mate series, iPhones are still the most expensive smartphone in China. For now, the โkidney machineโ label belongs to Apple.
โLost In Translationโ is a weekly column that covers netizen-speak from Chinaโs Interwebs. Chinaโs internet slang is a fast-moving linguistic phenomenon and staying fresh has never been harder. Here, youโll find new words or phrases every week with a breakdown of what they mean, how theyโre used, and how they came to be.
*This price refers to the 16 GB iPhone 5SE. The 64GB version is sold for about $612 USD in mainland China.
