Can someone please make an iPhone-theft thriller already? Forget the Apple store heist in Seattle; South Asia has a pretty riveting script on cross-border smartphone theft waiting to be written. | |  | | Daniel Zender for RoW | | | Did you read about the burglary at an Apple store in Seattle last month? In a theft that had all the markings of a Money Heist-like thriller, burglars reportedly cut a hole in the bathroom wall of an adjoining coffee supplies shop to enter the Apple store. They stole iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches worth $500,000, reports said.
This news came just a few days after the Delhi police arrested five people involved in buying and reselling stolen iPhones in India's capital. The police said the accused had a nexus with snatchers who would sell them the stolen iPhones.
Though not entirely the same, these incidents reminded me of the 2020 attack on a Wistron factory in Karnataka, where the company's employees had attacked the premises over payment issues — and thousands of iPhones had gone missing. The company had claimed damages of 440 crore rupees (around $54 million now).
I am not surprised that thieves find iPhones worth stealing. After all, Apple's aspirational smartphones can cost as much as $2,000 in South Asia. | | | 🌏 Did you know we have two other newsletters? LEARN MORE > | | | | Beyond just iPhones, the data on smartphone thefts is eye-popping. In 2021, on average, 134 mobile phones were stolen in India's financial capital, Mumbai, alone.
What's most intriguing is what happens to these phones after they are stolen. Apparently, they travel across borders.
In 2022, the Mumbai police investigated a nexus that smuggled stolen smartphones to Bangladesh. Last year, the Delhi police had arrested a man who bought smartphones stolen by criminals in the capital city and then resold them in his country, Nepal. In Pakistan, the police had busted a 17-member gang involved in snatching mobile phones from locals and smuggling them to Afghanistan.
Now, who's willing to pay me for this OG movie idea? FWIW, I am open to signing a multiseason docuseries deal with a streaming platform, too 😉.
— Itika Sharma Punit
A programming note: Starting today, we'll be in your inboxes every other Wednesday at 7AM ET/4:30PM IST. New time, same insights on the South Asian tech scene! | | Three things - Indian Twitter and Musk: Under the leadership of Elon Musk, Twitter has complied with hundreds of government orders for censorship or surveillance. The bulk of the recent requests come from countries that have lately passed restrictive speech laws — most notably, India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
- Pakistan's funding winter: Pakistani startups raised $23.1 million during January–March 2023, which is 55% higher than the preceding three months, but 86% lower year-on-year.
- Smart Bangladesh: In an article for The Daily Star, Farhana Islam, head of social impact at Grameenphone, explained the potential of Bangladesh's digital and tech sectors. Grameenphone is the country's leading telecommunications provider.
| | ICYMI Last week, we published a story about how Muzz, a marriage-focused dating app for Muslim youth, has struggled to replicate its global success in India, which is home to the world's third-largest Muslim population. Muzz saw a rapid rise in India during 2019 and 2020. Lately, however, its growth has slowed. Part of the problem is the poor experience that young Indian users have had on Muzz. The current sociopolitical environment is also a cause of concern for young Muslim women when it comes to joining a dating app that specifically caters to a minority religion. | | Before you go We were so enthused by your response to our last newsletter event in February that we put together another one for you this month: | | Rest of World South Asia Newsletter Event - Why the gig economy needs female workers Join us for a discussion between our features director, Vicki Turk, and journalist Sonia Faleiro, who recently wrote a Rest of World feature article about Urban Company, the Indian home services startup, and its female workforce. Faleiro is also the author of The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing. If you have questions you'd like discussed during the event, do send them in! Virtual/Zoom • Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 8AM EST / 5:30PM IST
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