You should search what happens when these phones are stolen with Apple's lock on them.
It's almost always the same play book:
- moves to some US address nearby
- turns off for days
- shows up in Shenzhen or Guangzhou
Usually from there are a few attempts to phish the owner with fake iCloud alerts (and sometimes outright threats) before they strip it for parts.
To be clear it's not like the phone theft itself is part of some concerted effort by Chinese actors: there are only so many places where the tools and skills to strip down, repackage, and resell something as specific as an iPhone speaker unit are so common
It's almost always the same play book:
- moves to some US address nearby
- turns off for days
- shows up in Shenzhen or Guangzhou
Usually from there are a few attempts to phish the owner with fake iCloud alerts (and sometimes outright threats) before they strip it for parts.
To be clear it's not like the phone theft itself is part of some concerted effort by Chinese actors: there are only so many places where the tools and skills to strip down, repackage, and resell something as specific as an iPhone speaker unit are so common