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The new iPad, Apple’s latest version of its bestselling, market-leading tablet, has gone on sale in China. Amazingly the reception was muted, with short queues and small crowds the order of the day.
According to reports from both Reuters and The Next Web, Apple’s new iPad has launched in China without much of the fuss and bother usually associated with the launch of new Apple products in the country. Things came to a head when the iPhone 4S was launched in March amid scenes of chaos and fighting amongst those desperate to get their hands on the latest Apple smartphone.
Both sources claim queues were kept to a minimum, and people were well-behaved, even in the large flagship stores such as the one in Beijing’s Sanlitun district.
The reason for this more-civil launch is the introduction of a pre-sale reservation system that requires buyers to register their interest in the new iPad before they can get their hands on one. Buyers are required to reserve their iPad a day before they head to a store to pick it up. Each person has to order the previous morning and is given a set appointment time to pay for and collect their new device.
This method is set to continue indefinitely, with buyers having until 12pm to order their iPad for collection the day after. This ensures two things: a steady stream of customers entering the Apple Stores; reducing the number of scalpers picking up multiple iPads which they can then sell on for a healthy profit.
The pre-ordering system was first trialled in Hong Kong earlier this year, and the success of it both there and now in China means it’s likely to become standard across Asia, if not elsewhere. It could be suggested that less people are actually that bothered about the new iPad which, aside from the Retina Display, is nothing but an incremental update to the hardware. But that would be churlish.
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