路透社（Reuters）和英国《金融时报》（Financial Times）周一均刊登了关于中国水货苹果（Apple）市场的文章，虽然两篇文章的结论迥异，但有一点是一致的，即两周来新iPad售价已下跌了大约 30%。

    新iPad——即拥有那款神乎其神Retina显示屏的iPad——在美国上市后的第二天就出现在了北京的水货市场。当时，这款在美国零售价不到500美元的机型中国经销商可卖到1,100 美元。路透社的报道称，如今，600美元或700美元的售价更为常见。

    这是怎么回事？

    英国《金融时报》用两位采访对象的直接引语给出了两种解释：

    “现在的人们对iPad理性多了，”北京科技园区中关村的一位经销商薛金鹏（音译）称。“他们更愿意等价格跌下来，甚至等到行货上市。”

    上海某外资保险公司的秘书Annie Zeng是一位众所周知的果粉，她说，她感觉新iPad价格更高，但并没有提供什么新的东西。

    路透社的文章显然花了更多心思，它全程追踪了iPad在旧金山地区的苹果专卖店被购入、装入手提箱、速递至香港、然后再由背包客走私运入中国内地的整个过程，最后得出了一个截然不同的结论。

    文章指出，不同于iPad 2在美国上市后近两个月才在中国香港和上海开售，第三代iPad在美国上市后一周就已经可以在中国香港和上海经销商处批量购买。

    两篇文章并不矛盾，但标题发出了截然不同的信号：

    • 路透社：中国走私iPad生意遭遇倒春寒

    • 英国《金融时报》：新iPad在中国内地遇冷；商家纷纷降价甩货

    译者：早稻米

    Dueling stories Monday in Reuters and the Financial Times about the Chinese gray market for Apple (AAPL) products agree on one thing: The prices the new iPad can fetch have fallen roughly 30% in the past two weeks.

    When the latest iPad -- the one with the much-hyped Retina display -- showed up in Beijing the day after its U.S. launch, Chinese resellers could get as much as $1,100 for a model that retails for less than $500. Today, according to Reuters, prices like $600 or $700 are more common.

    What's going on?

    The Financial Times offers two explanations in the form of a pair of quotes:

    "People are getting a lot more rational about the iPad now," said Xue Jinpeng, a reseller in Zhongguancun, Beijing's technology district. "They are a lot more willing to wait until prices come down or even until the official launch."

    Annie Zeng, a secretary at a foreign insurance company in Shanghai and a confessed Apple fan, said she felt the latest iPad offered nothing new for the higher price.

    Reuters, in a considerably more ambitious story that follows the path of iPads bought in San Francisco-area Apple Stores, stuffed in suitcases, shipped by courier to Hong Kong and smuggled by backpack onto the mainland, draws a different conclusion.

    It points out that unlike the iPad 2, which went on sale in Hong Kong and Shanghai nearly two months after its U.S. launch, the third-generation iPad was available in quantity in Hong Kong and Shanghai Apple Stores a week after U.S. sales began.

    "This whole game is over," a Beijing gray marketer complained to Reuters. "There's an overabundance of supply. The market's flooded."

    The two reports are not contradictory. But the headlines send a very different signal:

    • Reuters: Tough times in the U.S.-China iPad smuggling game

    • FT: Latest Apple iPad Struggles in China; Sellers Cut Price