A Nigerian social media figure has used a video from an Apple Store in China to alert local vendors about potential price hikes for the newly launched iPhone 18, igniting ongoing debates over import costs and profiteering.
Apple’s latest launch has reignited an old argument in Nigeria’s phone market: how much of an iPhone’s price reflects import costs, and how much is simple opportunism. VeryDarkMan, the Nigerian social media critic known as VDM, used a video filmed from an Apple Store in China to warn local vendors against pushing up the price of the newly released iPhone 18 line for Nigerian buyers.
Apple introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at its September 9 event, with the Pro model starting at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299, according to Apple’s newsroom. The company said both devices use the new A20 Pro chip and a 48-megapixel camera system, with pre-orders beginning on September 12 and sales from September 18. Apple also unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable handset, which it said will cost $1,999 and features a 7.6-inch inner display with a 5.4-inch outer screen.
VDM said he had already ordered the new phone and expected delivery by September 18. In the video, he warned that any attempt to inflate the iPhone 18’s local price would also push up the cost of older models such as the iPhone 17. He said he would help people import the device himself if Nigerian sellers raised prices excessively, adding that he would work to “spoil the market” even if traders objected.
The outburst taps into a familiar complaint in Nigeria, where imported gadgets are exposed to currency weakness, customs charges and logistics costs, but are also widely suspected of carrying extra mark-ups beyond those pressures. YEN.com.gh noted that iPhone vendors have repeatedly faced accusations of exploiting launch demand, and that VDM has clashed before with businessman Blord over alleged price gouging during the iPhone 17 cycle. Reactions to the latest warning again leaned on that history, with social media users mocking the tendency of some resellers to repackage older phones as premium stock.
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