Meanwhile China Mobile has around 17m customers who have bought their iPhones on the grey market.
With so much to play for, it is not surprising that the grey market has become a lawyer's paradise.
It trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AFN and is also listed on the Grey Market as AGGZF.
Despite the buyers' clubs, the grey market and the desperate sufferers who might be helped, the rehabilitation of thalidomide still has a long way to go.
Ending controls on the grey market would allow large retailers to buy designer brand products at lower prices than they are currently available in the UK and pass benefits on to shoppers.
In recent years, the growth in the grey market in some poor countries may owe a lot to the International Monetary Fund's austerity programmes, which increase taxes and thus encourage many entrepreneurs to opt out.
And whether licensed or not, nearly all the grey market firms place orders with mobile phone component companies that work with major manufacturers as well, which keeps factories up and running especially as handset sales plummet amidst the economic downturn.
MPs have backed campaigns by supermarket chains including Asda and Tesco to end restrictions on the 'grey market' where genuine trademarked goods are imported from abroad to be sold within the UK at reduced prices.
Piracy is one thing, but account sharing is the great grey market of streaming services.
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But not everyone agrees that barriers to the grey-market are unjustified.
The devices are grey market add-ons that can be soldered to a console's main circuit board to bypass copyright controls.
And in one way, as it will seriously disturb the market in grey or parallel imports, one they might be quite happy with.
Microsoft was late in officially releasing the Xbox 360 in the Middle East markets and is still playing catch-up, whereas Nintendo is completely non-existent and all hardware sales in the Middle East are grey market imports.
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But the European Court of Justice banned the sale of branded goods bought through unauthorised channels outside the European Union - on the so-called 'grey market'.
The ad effort from Grey Worldwide, which includes a print campaign, was created after market research showed that a number of middle-aged women feel "invisible" after hitting 40 or 50, says Thomas A. Albright, senior director of marketing for Botox Cosmetic.
The advertising effort from Grey Worldwide, which includes a print campaign, was created after market research showed that a number of middle-aged women feel "invisible" after hitting 40 or 50, says Thomas A. Albright, the senior director of marketing for Botox Cosmetic.
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