Four hours: That's how long it took Apple stores in China to sell out of the iPad 2. But it apparently wasn't all fun, games, and cheering employees during the big product launch this past Friday.
You've heard a little bit about the long lines and scalpers all attempting to get their hands on Apple's latest tablet, but that's hardly the full extent of the "dark side" of China's iPad 2 launch weekend.
New images surfaced from a Beijing Apple store showing the extent of a brawl that allegedly broke out on Saturday between store employees and those queued in line. The details are scant, but Beijing News reports that a non-Chinese Apple store employee allegedly attacked people in line who were being accused of line-jumping their way toward the front.
However, according to reporting from M.I.C. Gadget's Chris Chang, the altercation happened because scalpers were being prevented from entering the store after being told that they could purchase items as long as they waited in line like everyone else. The scalpers allegedly started scuffling with store employees and security before a separate Apple Store employee, "came out from the store with a metal club and hit 4 people, including 2 young men and 2 middle age women," reports Chang.
However the squabble began, it led to the shattering of part of the giant glass door on the front of the Apple store in Beijing's Sanlitun commercial district. And worse for those looking to score an iPad 2, the store closed early on Saturday. Reports indicate that the store was back up and running without issue on Sunday.
Of course, given that this Apple store represents one-fourth of the total Apple stores in the entire country, one can imagine just how unhappy some people were to have been turned away. According to reports, store employees had to shuffle out all shopping customers out through the store's back doors. This nearly caused a riot in itself, says Chinese Mac site MacX.
According to reports, the Beijing Apple Store has allegedly now posted a sign indicating that line-jumping and scalper sales of iPad 2 devices will no longer be tolerated.
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