Combine the fact that these are probably being sold exclusively through those 2 first party stores, it being a holiday, and that there's a thriving resale market (people buying the maximum number of phones they can, then turning them around on the internet), I'm not surprised.
Edit: People even line up for bags of all the extra overstock junk they throw in bags at Apple's stores in japan:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/15/meizu-m9-christens-site-l...
Combine the fact that these are probably being sold exclusively through those 2 first party stores, it being a holiday, and that there's a thriving resale market (people buying the maximum number of phones they can, then turning them around on the internet), I'm not surprised.
Edit: People even line up for bags of all the extra overstock junk they throw in bags at Apple's stores in japan:
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/01/apple-lovers-in-japan-camp-ou...
Not comparable, IMHO.