iPads (unofficially) Arrive in Beijing

Apple’s iPad – either revolutionary or unnecessary, depending on who you ask – debuted on Saturday to long lines in New York, San Francisco and other major U.S. cities. A picture of the sleek 9.7-inch touch screen tablet computer is on Apple’s Chinese homepage, but clicking on it will only get you to a sign-up page for notification of availability. The people at the Apple Store in Sanlitun said they had no idea when they would receive iPads, which means basically nothing’s officially changed since we last reported on this subject. But according to China Daily last Tuesday (April 6), vendors at Zhongguancun were promising they’d have supplies from Wednesday. Anthony Tao ventured into the electronics market to scope out the deals.

Upon entering the main door of Zhongguancun e-World Mall, the first booth you see is Tiantian Pingguo Jia (Daily Apple Store), manned by a youngish lad named Sang Wei. Many people have inquired about the iPad, he said, including seven or eight people on Wednesday – all of whom summarily walked away upon learning the 16-GB iPad cost RMB 6,500 – about RMB 3,000 more than the U.S. price of $499. “Next week prices will drop,” Sang assured us.

We visited nine booths carrying Apple products on the second floor and found our questions about iPads greeted with – depending on the salesperson – helpfulness, suspicion, friendliness, disinterest and disdain – and in one case, a simple, silent shake of the head. Attendants at the second and third stores said iPads were niubi – awesome – though one of them, we’re pretty sure, had never tried one. “Keep the supply low, generate a buzz – that’s the way to do it,” said Zuo Jingang, nodding approvingly at Apple’s marketing.

A little later, the owner of stall B2639, Zhou Wenrui, shrugged at the question and called the iPad yiban – the equivalent of meh. “It’s only a slight product upgrade – there’s not much significance.” Apparently, however, people have bought from him already – “It’s a first-generation product, so it confers status, and there are people for whom money is no concern,” he said. Zhou was kind enough to offer the Beijinger’s readers a discount if they said they found him through this site, so there’s that. You can buy from him for only RMB 6,200!

It’s no secret that these owners get their products from individuals who bring them over from overseas. (When buying a camera two summers ago, I was asked whether I’d be interested in… let’s see, what’s the word… smuggling over a few iPhones from the States. “You’ll be compensated,” I was told.) My inquiries over whether I could actually see any iPads were always met with the question, “Are you interested in buying?” to which I told them, honestly, no, and that I was doing a piece for this site. Perhaps, then, it’s not surprising that “authorised resellers” were the most skittish about answering my questions. Take this exchange, for example:

Me: “Do you have iPads?”
Manager: “We have them. Please sit.”
Me: “I’m a journalist writing for the Beijinger’s website – the one read by laowais – and I’m doing a piece about where readers can buy iPads.”
Manager: “Oh, we don’t have them.”
Me: “You just said you did.”
Manager: “You have to pre-order.”

He was at least polite when refusing an interview request. (In case you're wondering, people can pre-order for RMB 1,000 and return the next day to buy a 16-GB iPad by adding RMB 5,500. Sound like a deal you're interested in?)