Apple's third-gen iPad makes orderly Chinese debut thanks to new reservation system
Apple launched its Retina display-sporting iPad in China on Friday to orderly lines, a scene contrasting the company's most recent product launches in the country which were marred with unruly crowds and scalpers.
A pre-sale reservation system instituted by Chinese Apple Stores appeared to be effective as the third-generation iPad launch went off without a hitch, perhaps uncharacteristically so for such a substantial release.
The scene came as a surprise to Apple customers, reports Reuters, as many have become used to long lines and overnight waits to purchase the new products. Scalpers were also an issue as demand sometimes drastically outweighed supply. Apple in January was forced to halt sales of the popular iPhone 4S on launch day as a large group of customers became unruly upon hearing that the handset was sold out.
"I'm very surprised that there is no line," said Sun Xufei, an IT worker who was first in line at the Shanghai Lujiazui Apple Store. "I thought there was going be a long line so I came over a bit earlier to pick it up." The line Xufei was standing in was reportedly only about 20 people deep.
Apple's third-gen iPad debuts in China. | Source: Reuters
Apple adopted a pre-order system in which customers are prompted to reserve an iPad through the Apple online store between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. after which they are assigned a time to pick up their device the next day. This allows the company to somewhat control the flow of foot traffic in and around the six official brick-and-mortar Apple Stores on the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong also has one Apple Store to serve the region's over seven million residents which accompanies a network of authorized resellers dotted throughout the country.
"This method is much better because everyone's time is precious," said a person at the launch event who gave his name as Zhong.
The Wi-Fi-only third generation iPad first gained Chinese regulatory approval in March and was followed by the 3G wireless version in May.
A pre-sale reservation system instituted by Chinese Apple Stores appeared to be effective as the third-generation iPad launch went off without a hitch, perhaps uncharacteristically so for such a substantial release.
The scene came as a surprise to Apple customers, reports Reuters, as many have become used to long lines and overnight waits to purchase the new products. Scalpers were also an issue as demand sometimes drastically outweighed supply. Apple in January was forced to halt sales of the popular iPhone 4S on launch day as a large group of customers became unruly upon hearing that the handset was sold out.
"I'm very surprised that there is no line," said Sun Xufei, an IT worker who was first in line at the Shanghai Lujiazui Apple Store. "I thought there was going be a long line so I came over a bit earlier to pick it up." The line Xufei was standing in was reportedly only about 20 people deep.
Apple's third-gen iPad debuts in China. | Source: Reuters
Apple adopted a pre-order system in which customers are prompted to reserve an iPad through the Apple online store between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. after which they are assigned a time to pick up their device the next day. This allows the company to somewhat control the flow of foot traffic in and around the six official brick-and-mortar Apple Stores on the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong also has one Apple Store to serve the region's over seven million residents which accompanies a network of authorized resellers dotted throughout the country.
"This method is much better because everyone's time is precious," said a person at the launch event who gave his name as Zhong.
The Wi-Fi-only third generation iPad first gained Chinese regulatory approval in March and was followed by the 3G wireless version in May.
Comments
Immediately thereafter, someone in China sues Apple for copying their tablet, Apple loses, is forced to pay them damages for sales of all iPads worldwide, must run an ad that bashes the iPad and promotes the other tablet, and loses the rights to the name 'iPad'.
Do the iPads in China come with one or two years warranty?
What is 20 people deep?
Kind of mind boggling.
They list them as being covered through Year of the Dragon.
Correction: year of the iPad
good to see everyone in good spirits!
iPad is very different from iPhone.
Not everybody needs an iPad. iPhone is somewhat more handy to use a daily tool.
The hype of iPad have died down in a way as some silly patriotic Chinese consumers still believe they should not buy Apple products such as iPad because of the name.
So basically although Apple have paid a sum to some crap f**k up company that had a rights to name iPad, it sort of of damage their market in China.
Of course there will still be younger buyers that will still purchase who does not give a hoot about this copyright stuff but somewhat my friend from Shanghai told me it seems weird not to see people surrounding the area although they have a system inline when they should come. It's obvious too that it came out the last among the rest of the world which made the impact less strong as well due to overseas sellers and Chinese people who travel out of China to buy in other countries as they can't wait to get their hands on one.
Apple, somehow it's good and bad ploy for Chinese market. Yes no mess up on the launching date but bad cause it takes such a long time for it to appear in China which by the time a certain percentage buyers would have bought it else where.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chairman Mao
iPad is very different from iPhone.
Not everybody needs an iPad. iPhone is somewhat more handy to use a daily tool.
The hype of iPad have died down in a way as some silly patriotic Chinese consumers still believe they should not buy Apple products such as iPad because of the name.
So basically although Apple have paid a sum to some crap f**k up company that had a rights to name iPad, it sort of of damage their market in China.
Of course there will still be younger buyers that will still purchase who does not give a hoot about this copyright stuff but somewhat my friend from Shanghai told me it seems weird not to see people surrounding the area although they have a system inline when they should come. It's obvious too that it came out the last among the rest of the world which made the impact less strong as well due to overseas sellers and Chinese people who travel out of China to buy in other countries as they can't wait to get their hands on one.
Apple, somehow it's good and bad ploy for Chinese market. Yes no mess up on the launching date but bad cause it takes such a long time for it to appear in China which by the time a certain percentage buyers would have bought it else where.
Don't forget that before a new iPad or other consumer device can go on sale in China, it has to receive certification by the Chinese authorities, and this takes quite some time. Also, Apple probably held back launching the new iPad before the rights to the name were resolved. No point in launching another iPad which may get bounced out of China, even though they had legitimately paid for the name.
It seems like the reservation system worked this time, and that there's enough supply to meet demand. Neither should be too surprising, considering that the iPad has been available for several months now in the rest of the world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chairman Mao
iPad is very different from iPhone.
Not everybody needs an iPad. iPhone is somewhat more handy to use a daily tool.
The hype of iPad have died down in a way as some silly patriotic Chinese consumers still believe they should not buy Apple products such as iPad because of the name.
So basically although Apple have paid a sum to some crap f**k up company that had a rights to name iPad, it sort of of damage their market in China.
Of course there will still be younger buyers that will still purchase who does not give a hoot about this copyright stuff but somewhat my friend from Shanghai told me it seems weird not to see people surrounding the area although they have a system inline when they should come. It's obvious too that it came out the last among the rest of the world which made the impact less strong as well due to overseas sellers and Chinese people who travel out of China to buy in other countries as they can't wait to get their hands on one.
Apple, somehow it's good and bad ploy for Chinese market. Yes no mess up on the launching date but bad cause it takes such a long time for it to appear in China which by the time a certain percentage buyers would have bought it else where.
Oh boy you really don't have any clue about what you're talking about do you?
Did you actually talk to ANY people from China about their view on the iPad debacle? Well, I have, mostly because I am a Chinese myself. So let me tell you a thing or two about this issue. The thing is, nobody, NOBODY is standing behind Proview. In fact, everyone I know in China (and that's a lot) think Proview is a leech, and they hate the fact that Proview not only was being a bully but also was blocking APPLE from selling the new iPad in mainland China. So if you wanna wait for picket lines that boycotts iPads because of the stupid name, you'll be waiting for a looooooooong time my friend.
I know what your next question is, so why the lukewarm launch scene? Well, it's because the new iPad has been on sale in a lot of places for a long time now. Basically any person in China that wants to buy an iPad has already gotten one. And thanks to APPLE for ramping up the production, the price for the "smuggled" new iPads is actually pretty low because the supply is not constrained like before. In fact, it's actually lower than the official price of the official new iPad that is launching today (because of taxes). It's simply supply and demand, the demand was already satisfied by the iPads supplied from other means, and since Chinese people are not as "patriotic" as you assumed, we tend to buy from a source with the lowest price, as long as we get the same product. And I will com back to the "same product" statement later.
So the next question is, why the long line-up for the iPhones and not the iPad? I am afraid that you're wrong again on this one buddy. I don't know whether it is a common knowledge or not, but iPhones bought from other countries cannot be serviced in China due to some legal issues, but iPads can. I know this because my ex-boyfriend works for APPLE CHINA. Since an iPhone is more expensive than an 16G wifi iPad, which is a hot seller in China, Chinese people are more hesitant to buy iPhones from other countries because they are not the "same product" even though they are the same. But iPads, on the other hand, is the "same product". And that's why people buy iPhones officially sold in China, but they do not wait for the official launch of iPads.
I am not trying to start a fight, but your post made me feel obligated to reply, because maybe you did not notice, but your post is full of biased assumptions about Chinese people, and I have to correct this.
Oh BTW, there is the drastically more rigorous reservation system than in other countries.
The launch was held up due to Apple waiting to settle the issue with Proview rather than have certain cities muddy the launch with sales injunctions as evidenced by the launch being announced several days after the Proview case was settled.
Your post is testament to the utter domination of the tablet market by Apple. Since you say that they would have bought the iPad elsewhere, rather than buying a different tablet, it actually makes very little difference to Apple what country the Chinese buy their iPads. I am sure their margins are very similar and they ship in such bulk that I doubt that is much of a factor on a percentage basis. Though I don't like to see scalpers jacking up the price.
Obviously somebody didn't get the memo!
Quote:
Originally Posted by graysunderland
The thing is, nobody, NOBODY is standing behind Proview.
So why'd the court case take so long? Why was it even allowed at all? Why was Apple forced to pay anything extra?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lerxt
Why was it allowed?! Are you serious. Its China. China = corruption.
That's exactly what I'm saying. His belief that 'everyone' hates Proview is obviously incorrect.
The Chinese banks (state owned) were owed a lot of money by Proview.
State owned enterprises (or part state owned) enterprises are obliged to pay dividends which end up in both state and party coffers.
If you were a senior member of the party and a representative of the Government in China, what outcome would you be pushing for??
Quote:
Originally Posted by festerfeet
If you were a senior member of the party and a representative of the Government in China, what outcome would you be pushing for??
The honest one. The honorable one. The RIGHT one.
But I suppose communists have different views on the matter. I can't really speak for them.
It is hard to find a poor high ranking official in China and of the few who don't have overt wealth well they seem to have exceptionally successful families!
Most Chinese also think all the best scams were invented in the West and have just been imported to China during the last few decades. To be fair there are some good examples given!
Playing devils advocate for a moment, what if the RIGHT and honourable one for the country is not the honest one. Lots of politicians all over the world have defended morally repugnant actions by claiming to act in the bet interests of their country.
Can't speak for the communists either, I still haven't met one in China, although there are a few in Oxford!
The reservation system is nothing new. It was established in Hong Kong at the release of the new iPad there ... Guess why? When the iPad 2 was introduced, long lines formed, mainly of people who wanted to resell it right away to other shops in HK and smugglers who brought them back to mainland China. There was even a zip line over the river seperating HK from Shenzhen just for the purpose of smuggling iPads into China. Now the situation is back to normal and you can get the new iPad everywhere.