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Fans, but no frenzy, await iPad
By Xu Chi |
01:32 UTC+8 September 17, 2010
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
VERY few people lined up yesterday afternoon for the much-hyped iPad, which will go on sale for the first time officially in Chinese mainland at 8am today.
Although Apple announced it would issue reservation tickets yesterday afternoon for the iPad's debut this morning, to prevent customers from rushing for them, only about 10 people were lined up for the products at 4pm yesterday, willing to wait throughout the night to be the first batch of buyers.
A few were employees sent by their bosses to buy them the sleek touch-screen devices. Two mothers were in line to buy iPads for their daughters.
Ma Ya, a 40-year-old businessman, was among the super Apple fans who arrived at the Apple Store in the Pudong New Area at 1pm yesterday and decided to line up outside for at least 19 hours to be the first customer of iPad.
Surprisingly, he took out an iPad and an iPhone 4G that he had bought previously online and planned to use them to kill the time.
As a super fan, he just couldn't let anyone else be the first buyer of the product even he already had one.
But there weren't as many people lining up for the products behind him as he had expected.
Ma didn't think it meant that Apple has fewer fans in Shanghai than in Beijing, where several people were lining up since Tuesday, three days early.
"Many of my friends who are also Apple fans bought the iPads from abroad or online in April," said Ma. "The price may be higher (online) but at that time, none of us wanted to wait for several more months until the products were sold in Shanghai."
Other buyers lining up for the products believed the price for iPad in Chinese mainland made the product less attractive to people.
The price for iPad with Wi-Fi functions to be sold in mainland will range from 3,988 yuan (US$583) to 5,588 yuan, about 15 percent higher than the prices in the United States and Hong Kong, according to Apple's websites.
Although Apple announced it would issue reservation tickets yesterday afternoon for the iPad's debut this morning, to prevent customers from rushing for them, only about 10 people were lined up for the products at 4pm yesterday, willing to wait throughout the night to be the first batch of buyers.
A few were employees sent by their bosses to buy them the sleek touch-screen devices. Two mothers were in line to buy iPads for their daughters.
Ma Ya, a 40-year-old businessman, was among the super Apple fans who arrived at the Apple Store in the Pudong New Area at 1pm yesterday and decided to line up outside for at least 19 hours to be the first customer of iPad.
Surprisingly, he took out an iPad and an iPhone 4G that he had bought previously online and planned to use them to kill the time.
As a super fan, he just couldn't let anyone else be the first buyer of the product even he already had one.
But there weren't as many people lining up for the products behind him as he had expected.
Ma didn't think it meant that Apple has fewer fans in Shanghai than in Beijing, where several people were lining up since Tuesday, three days early.
"Many of my friends who are also Apple fans bought the iPads from abroad or online in April," said Ma. "The price may be higher (online) but at that time, none of us wanted to wait for several more months until the products were sold in Shanghai."
Other buyers lining up for the products believed the price for iPad in Chinese mainland made the product less attractive to people.
The price for iPad with Wi-Fi functions to be sold in mainland will range from 3,988 yuan (US$583) to 5,588 yuan, about 15 percent higher than the prices in the United States and Hong Kong, according to Apple's websites.
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