As crazy as the lines were when the iPad 2 was released in the United States, at least there didn't seem to be any riots: according to the AFP, "Four people were taken to hospital and a glass door smashed as a near-riot broke out at Beijing's top Apple store among crowds rushing to snap up the popular iPad 2 tablet computer, according to state press. Angry consumers began rushing the store on Saturday afternoon after a 'foreign' Apple employee allegedly stepped into the crowd to push and beat people suspected of queue jumping." And it seems much of the line is made up of...scalpers.
Scalpers, specifically Asian ones, are a familiar sight near New York's Apple stores. The scalpers have been reportedly able to sell the iPad 2's for twice the retail price in China. However, now that the product is on sale in China, the markup from scalpers outside the Beijing Apple Store is more like $30-40 .
