Reuters: Technology News: Apple's latest iPad makes low-key debut in China

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Apple's latest iPad makes low-key debut in China Jul 20th 2012, 03:41 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News China preempts Apple on iPhone 5 launch Thu, Jul 12 2012 Samsung loses bid to lift ban on U.S. tablet sales Tue, Jul 3 2012 Apple pays $60 million to settle China iPad trademark dispute Mon, Jul 2 2012 Protests as China's Hu urges new Hong Kong leader to resolve "problems" Sun, Jul 1 2012 China plans zone as test bed for service-sector reform Fri, Jun 29 2012 Analysis & Opinion Beware â€Å"blame China” earnings phenomenon Chinese IP awareness, sown by West, bruises Apple 1 of 4. A customer displays his new iPad during its China launch at the Apple store in Shanghai July 20, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Aly Song SHANGHAI | Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:31pm EDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Apple Inc staged a low-key launch of its latest iPad in China on Friday, free of the chaotic scenes that plagued the tech darling's previous product debuts in its most promising growth market. The calm, orderly queues in Shanghai and Beijing came as a surprise to many Apple fans in China, who are used to standing overnight in snaking queues with scalpers to get their hands on the latest product. "I'm very surprised that there is no line. I thought there was going be a long line so I came over a bit earlier to pick it up," said an IT worker, Sun Xufei, who was the first in line of a small queue of around 20 people waiting outside the Shanghai Lujiazui Apple store. The launch of the latest iPad, which features a sharper display and better camera than previous versions of the wildly popular tablet, comes weeks after Apple paid $60 million to a Shenzhen-based company to settle a trademark lawsuit over the iPad name. Apple adopted an online reservation system that allowed it to control the flow of people to its stores and avoid a repeat of the riotous iPhone 4S launch in January, when one of its flagship stores in Beijing was pelted with eggs by scalpers who had turned rowdy. "This method is much better because everyone's time is precious," said a 33-year-old entrepreneur who only give his last name and Zhong. Apple has two retail stores in Beijing, three in Shanghai, one in Hong Kong and a network of authorized resellers. Chinese government officials said the company is looking to open two more in the major cities of Chengdu and Shenzhen. Demand for Apple products is so high that many choose to buy from unauthorized resellers who peddle smuggled goods or from online stores that sell parallel imports. China is a key growth area for Apple, and Chief Executive Tim Cook has often said that the company has only scratched the surface in the region. Sales in Greater China - mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan - increased threefold to $7.9 billion in the second quarter ended on March 31. (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Kazunori Takada and Alex Richardson) Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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