As the iPad 2 is released in China, violent scuffles highlight the dark side of Apple's launches. The vast majority of people who queue up outside of Apple stores all night long are nothing more than Apple super-fans, but a small minority are 'scalpers' not quite as vicious as they sound, scalpers are basically the ticket touts of the tech world. Buying as many iPads as possible the scalpers sell on the devices at premium prices on Ebay and Craigslist as well as exporting them.
Things got violent in China after Apple employees clashed with a group of scalpers. The scuffle left four people injured. It seems as though scalpers are becoming a serious problem for Apple launches. The problems in China follow reports that police were called to New York after genuine fans and scalpers clashed outside the store.
It's a lucrative swindle too. Many people are willing to pay inflated prices to get their hands on the goods. At the extreme end of the scale a Russian entrepreneur offered $1050 for the device. One scalper described how he cued up with friends bought as many iPads as he could, then returned with the almost comedic disguise of shades and a baseball cap which embarrassingly enough for Apple staff worked and allowed him to buy even more. As well as disguises, scalpers are also known for bribing fans to get better positions in the queue.
Apple won’t be happy with crooks making a fortune of the back of their success and after these flourishes of violence something really needs to be done before things get too serious. Imagine if someone is seriously hurt whilst queuing? Even Apple's PR team couldn't spin themselves out of that one.