China iPad 2 frenzy causes Apple Store scuffle in Beijing

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Just one day after Apple's iPad 2 launch drew long lines in China, conflicting reports emerged Saturday regarding an alleged altercation at an Apple Store in Beijing.



Update: CNN reports that an alleged scalper tried repeatedly to cut into a line of customers waiting for the white iPhone 4 at the Beijing Sanlitun Apple Store on Saturday. After security guards and an Apple retail manager attempted to escort the individual away, but a shoving match resulted. After the situation got out of control, security guards locked the front door of the store. Disgruntled customers responded by shaking the glass door, which shattered.



AppleInsider reported on Friday that the launch of the iPad 2 in China drew crowds containing both fans and scalpers. In anticipation of crushing demand for the touchscreen tablet, Apple retail staff had instituted new waiting procedures that included numbered wristbands.



Chinese Mac site MacX (via Google Translate) reports that the Beijing Sanlitun Apple Store temporarily closed for business on Saturday afternoon after an altercation allegedly broke out between scalpers and an Apple Store employee, though the specific details of the incident remain unclear.



The apparent facts of the incident are that four people were injured and taken to the hospital, one of the glass doors for the Apple Store was broken and the store was closed for a time for cleanup and a subsequent police investigation.







The report alleges that a near "riot" erupted after retail staff attempted to close the store and usher customers out the back door. A separate unconfirmed report claims that a fight broke out between "a foreigner and a Chinese man," though MacX notes that the information "is difficult to distinguish between true or false."



The line for the iPad 2 at Apple's flagship Beijing Sanlitun store on Friday, May 6



According to another unverified report from Chinese micro-blog Sinatech, police sources claim that Apple Store employees battered a self-proclaimed "jobless" man who may have been acting as a scalper.



Apple has drawn crowds with each of its recent major product releases in China. The launch of the original iPad in September of last year drew long lines, with some customers waiting over 60 hours to purchase the device. A week later, the release of the iPhone 4 saw overwhelming demand as thousands of customers lined up for the smartphone.



The Cupertino, Calif., company has just four retail stores in the country, which has a population of over 1.3 billion. Apple has said last month that it has focused most of its emerging market efforts on China. The company has indicated plans to open 25 retail stores in the country over the next few years.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 129
    kingkueikingkuei Posts: 137member
    Not surprising. China may be modernizing very rapidly, but the people have yet to catch up. I was sickened by some of the stuff I saw in Shanghai when I was spending time there a year ago. It's a First World infrastructure clashing with a just recently Third World people that are racing so fast into the modern era.
  • Reply 2 of 129
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    the descent of china into consumerist hell has begun, let's all in the west hope that in ten years time they won't be the new hitlers of the world.
  • Reply 3 of 129
    doctor daviddoctor david Posts: 820member
    Thats the earliest I've seen godwins law invoked.
  • Reply 4 of 129
    pokepoke Posts: 506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Doctor David View Post


    Thats the earliest I've seen godwins law invoked.



    It's the first time I've seen consumerism posited as a precursor to Naziism too.
  • Reply 5 of 129
    ochymingochyming Posts: 474member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    the descent of china into consumerist hell has begun, let's all in the west hope that in ten years time they won't be the new hitlers of the world.



    What being a Fascist has to do with having money?

    Have you been paying attention to the cradle of fascists/nationalist parties raising to power in Europe?
  • Reply 6 of 129
    ochymingochyming Posts: 474member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by poke View Post


    It's the first time I've seen consumerism posited as a precursor to Naziism too.



    : Yeah! Crazy isn't it?
  • Reply 7 of 129
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Doctor David View Post


    Thats the earliest I've seen godwins law invoked.



    Second post ... might be a record!
  • Reply 8 of 129
    guch20guch20 Posts: 173member
    I bet the Xoom would get a similar reaction...















    ...from people stampeding to return them to stores once they see what a piece of crap it is.
  • Reply 9 of 129
    guch20guch20 Posts: 173member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Second post ... might be a record!



    I'm gonna try to beat that record. Next story that goes up where I see I'd be first to post, I'm just gonna write "Hitler!"
  • Reply 10 of 129
    magic_almagic_al Posts: 325member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by poke View Post


    It's the first time I've seen consumerism posited as a precursor to Naziism too.



    Volkswagen was founded by the Nazis, but that's probably consumerism surviving Naziism by accident.
  • Reply 11 of 129
    gotwakegotwake Posts: 115member
    In other news, 3 people were seriously hurt at a recent Playbook launch. It happened when several people lined up thinking that they would be buying iPad 2s. When they realized what was going on, a scuffle broke out. One customer said that everyone tried to leave at the same time.
  • Reply 12 of 129
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ochyming View Post


    What being a Fascist has to do with having money?

    Have you been paying attention to the cradle of fascists/nationalist parties raising to power in Europe?



    you don't get it, leave it.
  • Reply 13 of 129
    doctor daviddoctor david Posts: 820member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by guch20 View Post


    I'm gonna try to beat that record. Next story that goes up where I see I'd be first to post, I'm just gonna write "Hitler!"



    I had that same exact thought just a couple days ago. I saw it invoked somewhere and wondered if it was declared on post number one if it would have a different effect. Having it show up on post number 2 so soon was surprising.
  • Reply 14 of 129
    doctor daviddoctor david Posts: 820member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Magic_Al View Post


    Volkswagen was founded by the Nazis, but that's probably consumerism surviving Naziism by accident.



    I didn't do a search first but volkwagon wasnt founded by the nazis. I think it was that hitler asked/ordered(?) Ferdinand Porsche to make a car for the average person. Volks (people's) wagon(car).

    As I recall...
  • Reply 15 of 129
    Not to be left out, a scuffle with employees broke out in a Microsoft store when a customer tried to leave without buying anything.
  • Reply 16 of 129
    ronboronbo Posts: 669member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by poke View Post


    It's the first time I've seen consumerism posited as a precursor to Naziism too.



    Hah. You didn't live through the 70s.
  • Reply 17 of 129
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    I can believe it!



    When I was waiting at a NYC Apple store in line one morning there was some sort of altercation between some Chinese scalpers and Russian scalpers. Unfortunately, it didn't come to blows, so nobody was ejected from the line. That obviously would have been the most preferable and desirable outcome, as it would have meant that everybody else would have moved up a few places in line.



    Apple products are real popular, so the product launches are bound to attract seedy people, criminals and other sorts of scum.
  • Reply 18 of 129
    doctor daviddoctor david Posts: 820member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ronbo View Post


    Hah. You didn't live through the 70s.



    Hey, there's nothing wrong with the 70's. Waddaya some kinda nazi or something?
  • Reply 19 of 129
    onhkaonhka Posts: 1,025member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    Steve, two words: "museum glass", please make it happen. If you won't bring back matte to the imac, then make the glass anti glare. So many people are holding out for this.



    We tested Museum glass in the studio. Like everything else, the brighter the light in front of the monitor = the greater the reflection; the brighter the light shining directly onto the monitor the greater the glare.



    Dimming the lights and placing them properly = no reflection or glare on either matte or glossy screens.



    But very problematic, is the inherent yellow tint in Museum Glass, and you don't have to be a professional photographer, illustrator or graphic designer to realize how distracting that could be.



    Quote:

    Optically pure – Acrylic is more optically pure than glass unless you get the more expensive reduced iron glass such as Tru Vue Museum glass. Regular glass, especially less expensive non-framing grade glass, has a green tint. UV filter Acrylic and UV filter glass both have a yellow tint (including the Museum glass). The yellow tint has a warming effect and is due to the UV filter. In the case of Acrylic it is built into the material. In the case of glass, it is coating that may deteriorate and lose effectiveness depending on the quality of the brand.



    http://www.framedestination.com/acrylic_selection.html



  • Reply 20 of 129
    jdlinkjdlink Posts: 50member
    Anybody who claims to remember the '70s obviously didn't live through them. Or was that the '60s? I forget.
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