New iPad Debuts In China
Apple’s latest iPad model went on sale quietly on Friday at a retail location in Beijing where unruly buyers and sullen crowds had marred past releases. Roughly 40 customers quietly lined up Friday morning outside the Apple Store in Beijing’s high-end Sanlitun shopping and restaurant district. They waited within a cordon surrounded security personnel and reporters. Store doors opened at 8 a.m. without disturbances.
The orderly opening was a far cry from previous new product releases at the Sanlitun store. In January, the company briefly stopped selling its new iPhone 4S at its China Apple Stores after unruly customers led police to seal off part of the mall at the location.
It is still unclear whether the subdued opening was because of Apple’s new buying system (where they prearrange times for people to collect their devices) or that there simply weren’t many people interested in buying an iPad. It’ll take the launch of the next iPhone to see if the reservation system really works.