Apple enthusiast Calvin Cheuk, 24, already has a MacBook and an iPhone but was at the head of the queue outside Broadway in Mong Kok yesterday to buy an iPad when the long-awaited gadget went on sale in the city.
He was among hundreds who lined up outside four shops in Mong Kok - all in Sai Yeung Choi Street South - before sales started at 10am.
'The monitor of the iPad is much bigger [than the iPhone's] and it's much easier to read documents on it,' said Cheuk, who arrived at 8am.
He was so keen to get his hands on the product that he did not even check the local price. 'It should be in line with the US price,' he said.
He was right - the US price for a 16 gigabyte version equipped with Wi-fi and 3G is US$629 (HK$4,889), while the local price is HK$4,888. The cheapest iPad - 16GB with Wi-fi only - costs HK$3,888.
A group of youngsters who had lined up since about 2am was first in the queue outside Fortress. They paid for their iPads with a stack of thousand-dollar bills, but declined to comment.
Customers new to the Apple brand also queued up. Flora Kam, in her 40s, said she had confidence in the iPad because her friend owned a parallel import. But she said she would not buy an iPhone 4, expected to go on sale next week, because of its reported antenna problems.