The new iPad quietly premieres in China

The new iPad was recently let loose on China, and, unlike the iPhone 4S before it, the tablet did not receive the roaring mobs. The Wall Street Journal reports that the new iPad launched without much struggle at all on Friday, seeing as the “unruly buyers and sullen crowds” weren’t back for more. ”Roughly 40 customers quietly lined up Friday morning outside the Apple Store in Beijing’s high-end Sanlitun shopping and restaurant district,” the report said. “They waited within a cordon surrounded security personnel and reporters. Store doors opened at 8 a.m. without disturbances.”

“Sales at Apple’s other four company-branded retail stores in China also appeared to go smoothly,” the report added. This launch is nothing like the iPhone 4S’s was in January, which actually made Apple have to suspend sale of their device in Chinese stores after “unruly customers” forced police to rope off the area. The same type of situation occurred with the launch of the white iPhone 4 in May, 2011, also causing police to have to rope off the area.

The way Apple went about business this time to prevent the uproars was actually quite simple: the customers were required to make a reservation the day before, and were given a time to come pick up their device. As the report put it:

For the launch of the new iPad, Apple instituted a system new to the location in which buyers were required to take reservations beginning on Thursday, the day before the launch. Customers were then given a set time to pick up their devices.

That was much better conducted than the trademark dispute that kept the new iPad from launching in China.

What do you think? Did Apple do a good job at keeping the crowds down? Have you picked one up if you live in China? Let us know in the comments.