Apples latest iPhone 4S has caused major problems on its release in Beijing, after thousands of buyers crowded outside the flagship store in Sanlitun. Within the mass of people were scalpers desperate to purchase as many of the Apple handsets as they could for increased resale prices outside the store.

In the early hours before the store was due to open fights broke out between the police and scalpers. It even got to the point where the SWAT teams were called in to deal with the worst offenders.

This led to the store delaying the opening from its originally planned 7.00am, but after seeing what was unfolding outside the decision was made to not open the store at all. This enraged the crowds further leading to chants of “Open the door!” and “Liars!” with some resorting to pelting the shop front with eggs.

With the Sanlitun store not opening, and the four other retail locations selling out within an hour, Apple released a statement confirming that iPhone 4S would not be available from the retail outlets in Beijing and Shanghai. According to a report from Micgadget, customers would still be able to order their 4S from the online store.

With the majority of the problems coming from scalpers trying to make money from the genuine customers, how do you think that new device releases can be changed to stop this kind of disruption?