Thousands queue for iPad 2 across Asia
The iPad 2 went on sale in many countries across Asia and beyond on Friday as Apple’s updated gadget enters a market that is becoming ever more crowded with tablet computers. Apple’s original iPad defined the tablet computer market and was swiftly followed by offerings from the tech industry’s main players, from Samsung and Dell to BlackBerry maker RIM and Toshiba. A late arrival to the tablet party was Sony, who only this week announced its own tablets a full year after the original iPad went on sale.
Now Apple is already fighting round two with a lighter, thinner version of their original gadget. First in line in a queue of around 400 rain-soaked people outside an Apple store in Hong Kong was 16-year-old mainland Chinese student Dandy Weng, who travelled to the city from neighbouring Guangdong province for a device. “I have waited for over 12 hours and haven’t slept in 48 hours – I’m very tired but excited,” he told AFP.
“I will be the first in China to have the iPad 2”, he said, waving a ticket to back up his claim of being first in line. “I’m speechless, it’s so exciting,” he said after purchasing two tablets. “I can’t say how happy I am right now.” A long queue snaked around the Apple shop in a major downtown shopping centre with several groups of shoppers loading as many as a dozen iPads onto trolleys.