“The 3G iPad 2 has so far met with an extremely poor response in mainland China, at least at retail, reports say,” MacNN reports.
“Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai are said to have been totally devoid of crowds during the Wednesday launch, even though guards and fencing were brought out in anticipation of long lineups,” MacNN reports. “Photos show the Nanjing Apple Store with staunchions snaking around the exterior, but no one at all in line.”
MacNN reports, “The non-existent turnout is being blamed on several factors, most notably price, since in mainland China even the cheapest 3G iPad 2 costs the equivalent of $735, over $100 more than in the US. 3G tablets have also been available through the Hong Kong gray market for some time. China Unicom has yet to offer any custom-tailored iPad plans, despite being Apple’s only official carrier partner in the country.”
More in the full article, including photos of non-existent lines, here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple misread the tea leaves.
Wow, apple pulled a Microsoft on that one.
It all has to do with the trade inequity between the US… China artificially deflates it’s currency to have a trade advantage. Good for China exports to the US… bad for US exports to China.
What?!? Nanjing has an Apple Store? Since when?
Okay, I get it, Nanjing STREET, where the newest Shanghai Apple Store has yet to open.
I could see that… With the amount of tethering options, Wi-Fi, etc., the Chinese aren’t going to pay for yet another way to get internet access.
I’m surprised so many people do that here in the USA…
Well, now that I think about it for a second, I’m actually not that surprised.
where are all the fanboys?
Right here, lol, doing a great deal of laughing out loud myself . . . having 5700 shares of the most valuable publicly traded company on earth! One that is now 50% larger than the megabeast MSFT . . . and one for which I paid an average of $12.42 per share over the past 25 years. Why not come back here a little over three weeks from now and “lol” when Apple posts its Q4 sales and profit figures? Another record quarter ought to reduce your “lol” to a dull sob.
Pray, tell us, of what are YOU a fanboy, lol? Got ANYTHING to compare to Apple’s track record . . . ever?
it’s not that bad:
look at the photo of the ‘normal’ crowd of Beijing Apple store yesterday.
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/09/22/3g-ipad-2-not-feeling-the-love-in-china/
That’s how the store looks like every day. ‘the normal crowd’ looks bigger than the crowds at the launch of key rival products so what is the big deal?
iPad 2 3G has been available in China through grey market since April and the top of the line 64GB model is actually cheaper in Grey market by about $300 than what Apple is asking at there stores…
Actually the launch was too late and most of the potential customers have already bought their iPads from the grey market during the long waiting period before the official launch. As far as RMB-USD rate was growing stronger in the recent years, the Apple products were becoming cheaper in the PRC but the high tariff and retail tax costed at least 17% mark-up from the import price.
Ooops ……
This is China!
Buy an iPad legally? Unheard of!
Cheap-ass knockoffs for sale? Mass hysteria!!!
The “legal” products mean the heavy tax to raise the highly corrupted officials, who are famous in wasting tax money on gambling, expensive drinks and meals, and after all buying flats for their offsprings to be living in the States.
“Staunchion”? Has MacNN no spell checker?
This is similar to what happen here in Portugal, and the main reason for android devices be so popular.
Heaven forbid that there be cultural differences in how people respond to things. The Chinese culture has its own way of dealing with events, and direct comparisons to western characteristics is not a good way of analyzing anything. But then, what else do we expect of our “beloved” analysts, eh?