Hong Kong Apple Store avoids scalper antics with lottery system for new iPad
For the release of the new iPad on Friday, Apple's flagship retail store in Hong Kong avoided the massive crowds that plagued its iPhone 4S launch last year by instituting a reservation system.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the new iPad launch in Hong Kong was remarkably subdued compared to the thousands-long line that gathered for the iPhone 4S last November.
Apple kept lines to a minimum at its store by requiring customers to register online with their local ID cards to buy the device. Lucky customers were then assigned times to come pick up the new iPad. According to there report, the reservation system was down on Friday because of "heavy traffic volume."
A number of queuers opted to wait outside the Hong Kong Apple Store in hopes of getting an iPad, but they were unsuccessful in their efforts. A security guard told the publication they were "disappointed, but not that really."
“They weren’t all Apple fans. Some of them were just lining up to make money, such as the elderly, because they wanted to resell them,” he added.
Credit: Reuters/Tyrone Siu
One likely reason the company put checks in place ahead of the iPad launch is that this is the first time the device is being released in Asia on the same day as the U.S. launch. In years past, some line-waiters for Apple's devices in the U.S. admitted to working for resellers in Hong Kong and mainland China.
A series of clashes and incidents with scalpers and professional line-waiters that have marred recent product launches has put Apple on edge in Greater China. Shortly after the launch of the iPad 2 and the white iPhone 4 in China last year, a scuffle arose outside an Apple Store in Beijing that resulted in a broken glass door and several injuries. The release of the iPhone 4S in China was also disrupted in January after fighting broke out between customers waiting overnight for the Apple Store to open.
Apple has yet to reveal when the third-generation iPad will be released in the Chinese mainland.
Thus far, Apple has experienced intense demand for the new iPad and could potentially face similar supply issues to last year's iPad 2 launch. Weeks after the iPad 2 was released last March, the device remained difficult to find at Apple Stores and resellers.
The Cupertino, Calif., company said last week that customer response to the device has been "off the charts" and initial preorder stock had sold out. Currently, new orders of the third-generation iPad are estimated to take between two to three weeks to ship.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
'anyone else here know better ways to sell to customers rather than scalpers?
Not a perfect system, but workable I suppose.
'anyone else here know better ways to sell to customers rather than scalpers?
I suppose a scalper is a customer, or at least an unauthorised reseller. The ballot system itself won't stop scalpers. As you say workable but not perfect
The only reason they do it is because of product rarity. So one solution is to delay the launch in that country until you have a huge stock of units, and then flood the market with them.
Not a perfect system, but workable I suppose.
'anyone else here know better ways to sell to customers rather than scalpers?
The only way I can think of would be one iPad per person with an ID that can be saved to prevent buying another one an hour later. Apple could use face time recognition software as well
Of course having more iPads in the stock room would help.
At the end of the day I'd rather have this problem, after all it is only a short term thing, than the problem all the android tablets have, i.e. no one wanting one. Side bar ... I would love to see an Samsung tv ad parody like they do of Apple ads ...
FedEx is the solution I prefer, they always give me mine
Credit: Reuters/Tyrone Siu
(disclaimer i am refering to the "n@zi" party because it looks that way... i am NOT saying that apple stores in china are "neo-n@zi"...
am i the only one that thinks that at least two of these people are remembering that " back-in-the-day" political party in germany wwII?... of course 80% percent of the people in this photo are just waving... hmmm, perhaps the 20% that are "waving" are the geniuses... of the bar...
The scalper charges more than the retail store, and you don't get a warranty. It is a bad deal for the consumer.
The only reason they do it is because of product rarity. So one solution is to delay the launch in that country until you have a huge stock of units, and then flood the market with them.
What do you mean by "you don't get a warranty?" I'm quite certain that Apple products are warrantied by Apple for 365 days from the purchase date no matter who the current owner is.
I got a brand new iPad 1 back in 2010 from Apple after I bought one off Craigslist and it developed a problem a month later. I've had an iPhone and iPod Touch replaced under warranty as well (that I purchased myself), but have never been asked for documentation showing that I was the original purchaser.
Scalpers do charge more than retail obviously, but a potential buyer doesn't have to worry about the lack of a warranty.
The scalper charges more than the retail store, and you don't get a warranty. It is a bad deal for the consumer.
The only reason they do it is because of product rarity. So one solution is to delay the launch in that country until you have a huge stock of units, and then flood the market with them.
edit: Dammit! Pipped by haar. But perhaps I should be happy I wasn't the first to Godwin this thread.
(disclaimer i am refering to the "n@zi" party because it looks that way... i am NOT saying that apple stores in china are "neo-n@zi"...
am i the only one that thinks that at least two of these people are remembering that " back-in-the-day" political party in germany wwII?... of course 80% percent of the people in this photo are just waving... hmmm, perhaps the 20% that are "waving" are the geniuses... of the bar...
... but you also have the British Queen's wave second from the right.
What do you mean by "you don't get a warranty?" I'm quite certain that Apple products are warrantied by Apple for 365 days from the purchase date no matter who the current owner is.
If it was sold to an end user sure. But sometimes they get the stock via buying it from 3rd party resellers who don't enter it into the system as a sale. So there's no record placed in the warranty database since the scalpers don't have access to do so when they do their inflated cash sales.
If the resellers actually sell the iPads through their regular system to the scalpers then it is in the chain for the warranty to kick in.
The only way I can think of would be one iPad per person with an ID that can be saved to prevent buying another one an hour later.
Or do what they did in Hong Kong with the iPhone 4s and now the iPad. no walk in sales. You want it you have to buy it online etc.
They added this lottery element to the mix to perhaps stymie the scalpers since they wouldn't be able to place their order whenever. They place a request and wait for their name to be pulled from the hat that it is their turn to even order it