Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,114
40,140




iPad 2 line at Apple's Sanlitun retail store in Beijing

Apple yesterday launched the iPad 2 in China, officially bringing its six Wi-Fi capable models (three black and three white) to the country for the first time. M.I.C gadget has an extensive gallery of photos from the launch at Apple's Sanlitun retail store in Beijing, where hundreds of customers waited in line for the 8:00 AM launch and supplies sold out in just four hours.


Final staff briefing before launching the iPad 2 at Sanlitun retail store

Apple also launched sales through its online store in China, debuting with shipping estimates of 1-2 weeks. But even those supplies quickly dried up and the company's online store has stopped taking orders for all six models of the device, simply noting "no supply" as a shipping estimate.


Preparing to open the doors at Sanlitun retail store

Pricing for the new Wi-Fi iPad 2 models in China is set approximately 15% higher than in the United States, with 16 GB models coming in at 3,688 yuan ($568), 32 GB models at 4,488 yuan ($691), and 64 GB models at 5,288 yuan ($814).

Apple has placed considerable focus on building out its presence in China, with the company's four retail stores in the country ranking as the highest-grossing locations in the company's chain of over 300 stores. The company publicly stated in early 2010 that it planned to open up to 25 retail stores in China over the following two years, although the company has reportedly scaled back on the planned number and slowed the development slightly as it has shifted its strategy toward larger, more iconic stores.

Last October, the company opened a Chinese version of its online store as well as a Chinese-language edition of the App Store.

Article Link: iPad 2 Launches in China to Long Lines and Sellouts
 
Well, we keep hearing about China's growing middle class...they will gobble up the latest and greatest...
 
I've been reading that Apple is becoming an icon in China, that people really want Apple tech. I guess this is another sign of that reality.

It's a nice market to be popular in.
 
Bogus !!!

Not Possible !!
Count them again !!

The iPad doesn't support Flash
AND
it only has 512MB of RAM.

I call !@#$%, with so many better tablets out on the market.
 
I don't think that photo qualifies as a long line in China. Folks are probably arriving excited to be "only" number 1375.
 
I've been reading that Apple is becoming an icon in China, that people really want Apple tech.

When you think about it, much of the country has transformed in little over a decade and gone from agrarian to industrial. There is a large percentage of people now making a comfortable income and moving into the need to connect to the information superhighway for work and recreation.

If you came out of the cold into computers, would you buy some fly-by-night product with crap support to ease you into a vast new world, a product that is badly programmed for intuitive interfacing, a product that bugs constantly? ...Or would you buy an Apple?
 
So something that is built there, cost more than here, ah the staying power of pissed off fans still works. :D

Imagine if the fanboys had to pay more than say China a civil war would break out. :rolleyes:
 
Not Possible !!
Count them again !!

The iPad doesn't support Flash
AND
it only has 512MB of RAM.

I call !@#$%, with so many better tablets out on the market.

Right if you say so. Please do stroke those specs as much as you want. I will stay with my sweet smooth and sexy ipad 2
 
Not Possible !!
Count them again !!

The iPad doesn't support Flash
AND
it only has 512MB of RAM.

I call !@#$%, with so many better tablets out on the market.


Are you serious? lol

Given that they are assembled there and exporting costs don't exist they should be cheaper right?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Almost as many negatives as positives.

Apple haters disproving of another successful launch?

Or

Disgruntled Americans, thinking it shouldn't be launched in another country when USA is having shortages?

:D
 
Not Possible !!
Count them again !!

The iPad doesn't support Flash
AND
it only has 512MB of RAM.

I call !@#$%, with so many better tablets out on the market.
Not to mention that we KNOW nobody in China can afford Apple electronics.
 
Keep launching in new markets and adding retailers who sell them when you can't even keep your own stores supplied in one country. Pure genius.
 
Not Possible !!
Count them again !!

The iPad doesn't support Flash
AND
it only has 512MB of RAM.

I call !@#$%, with so many better tablets out on the market.

go buy your 2% of the market tablets that are unfinished products with poor support. If you want flash buy a netbook.
 
Did you notice the short lines?

Compared with NYC and other locations around to globe, the length of that line in the photo is quite small...

Probably because of so many iPad2s already in China via the secondary market line hawks in the USA.

There. I said it!

:D
 
I don't understand why iPads cost more in China than in the States when they are made by the former. Surely they are saving on shipping costs?
 
I don't understand why iPads cost more in China than in the States when they are made by the former. Surely they are saving on shipping costs?
Why do people think shipping is such a big deal? The world's pricing for...everything....is not based solely on shipping. Barely at all, really.

Pricing is a marketing concept. Accountants barely pay attention to it.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.