xmjiang

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- When Apple Inc. releases a product, the store

lines are typically led by fanboys  bakugan toys  clamoring to be first with the

latest gadget. At the downtown San Francisco store for the iPad 2

debut, the gray market got there first.

 

Dennis Ng, 20, said he was being paid $10 an hour to arrive before 5

a.m. -- half a day before Apple was to begin selling the device at its

stores. He said he was among about 35 mostly Chinese immigrants at the

front of the line, waiting to　power balance  buy the iPad for somebody else. Resales

of new electronics in countries where they’re not yet available feed

the so-called gray market.

 

“I’m here waiting in line because I want to make some money,” said

Ng, who lives in San Francisco and works at a clothing store. He wouldn

’t identify who hired him. “Many of the Chinese immigrants you see

here need work and money so　power balance  they go through this associate group for

side jobs and this is one we found.”

 

The iPad 2 debuted today in the U.S. and it will be released in 26

other countries on March 25. Nations like China and Russia have to wait

even longer, creating a market for people to import the device and

resell it. According to a July estimate by Flora Wu, a handset analyst

at BDA China Ltd., gray- market purchases accounted for almost half the

iPhones sold in China. BDA came up with the estimate prior to the

release of the iPhone 4 and the iPad in China.

 

The demand is changing the vibe at the front of the line. At the iPhone

’s debut in 2007, those in line watched “Star Wars,” smoked cigars

and got a surprise visit from Apple co- founder Steve Wozniak, said

Kurt Collins, a self-described technology enthusiast. He said the

people in line created a “community.”

 

Sense of Community

 

“This one is very much not that kind of community feeling,” said

Collins, who 　power balance  was in line behind Ng’s group. “Normally you see a lot

of tech enthusiasts and first adopters.”

 

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has taken steps to rein in the

gray market, including limits on purchases to two iPads per person.

During the debut of the original iPad, Apple only accepted credit cards

or debit cards to pay for new gadgets. It later stopped that policy to

accept cash.

 

Apple spokeswoman Amy Bessette didn’t immediately respond to requests

for comment.

 

At some stores, people have taken steps to work within the rules.

Esteban Kelly, a 19-year-old student at the College of San Mateo, and

seven of his friends, were being paid $100 each to buy 16 iPads at the

Burlingame, California, store. The buyer: 　power balance  someone Kelly described as a

“gazillionaire.”

 

“My income’s tight right now,” Kelly said, when asked why he was

willing to wait 20 hours in line at a pay rate of about $5 an hour.

 

Brian Williams, a high school teacher in San Lorenzo, California, said

it’s a simple matter of supply and demand.

 

“I’m an economics teacher,” said Williams, who lined up at the

downtown San Francisco store. “If there are people who don’t want to

stand in line, and　power balance  they are happy to pay for that service, then there

are people who are going to do it.”

 

--Editors: Lisa Wolfson, Tom Giles

 

To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco

at asatariano1