China’s Apple Ipad frenzy turned violent on the weekend as a fight broke out in a Beijing Apple store.
The scuffle, in which an Apple store employee and three other people were injured, was reported to be over a man buying multiple devices in order to scalp them.
Three Apple security guards and an Apple manager tried to shove the
scalper aside, which ultimately resulted in a shoving match between an
Apple security guard and a member of the scalper family.
Beijing had been in the grip of an iPad2 frenzy as the city approached the gizmo’s launch date.
Hopeful buyers queued up at about 4 a.m outside the city’s Apple store. The number
of buyers had swelled from 500 to 1000 by the time the stored opened.
of buyers had swelled from 500 to 1000 by the time the stored opened.
But scalping isn’t limited to Beijing.
In March, scalpers at New York doled out $100 bills to five cohorts who then went
and disbursed the amount to more than 200 Asians waiting outside the
queue, who then cleared iPads of the shelf.
and disbursed the amount to more than 200 Asians waiting outside the
queue, who then cleared iPads of the shelf.
NewYork Post reported
that one of the scalpers demanded $1700 for a top of the line iPad 2
which is priced at $829. However, much of the merchandise was shipped to
China.
that one of the scalpers demanded $1700 for a top of the line iPad 2
which is priced at $829. However, much of the merchandise was shipped to
China.
However, there’s one person who shouldn’t have too much trouble getting her hands on the second genertation iPad – the Queen of England.
The Sun reported that the 85-year-old royal enjoyed playing around with her grandson Prince William’s slate.
Apparently, the Queen was “particularly taken with how easy it was to use, the large screen and how light it was,” a royal insider said.
“For a woman of her age, she is very switched on. It was only a
matter of time before she asked someone to go and get her one.”
