Apple cut the price of its iPad 2 by US$100 yesterday, following the announcement of the new iPad.

Customers on the Chinese mainland will now be able to buy the 16GB iPad 2 for 2,988 yuan (US$473).

Staff at the Apple store on Shanghai's Nanjing Road E. said iPad 2 sales had risen since the price cut. One customer, surnamed Wu, said he rushed to the store to buy an iPad 2 after he heard the news. "For me, the iPad 2 is not so different from the new iPad but it's much cheaper now."

A salesman at an authorized Apple dealer on Wujiang Road said yesterday that they weren't offering iPad 2s at the cut price. However, a gadget shop on the same road is offering 10 percent off "to celebrate Women's Day," the manager said.

The new iPad will be available in Hong Kong from March 16 but a spokeswoman for Apple China said there was no timetable as yet for mainland sales.

However, Apple fans have already begun ordering the new iPad from some retailers. According to media reports, smuggled iPads will arrive on the mainland on March 18, just two days after they go on sale in Hong Kong.

Some shops on taobao, China's largest online shopping site, are already accepting pre-orders, Hong Kong's Etnet, a financial information website, reported yesterday.

In Hong Kong, the manager of a shop that deals in gray electronic goods at Mongkong's Sin Tat Square said 30 regular customers had pre-ordered the new iPad, Etnet reported. Prices for such iPads range from 3,800 to 7,900 yuan, Shanghai's Dragon TV said yesterday.

In Hong Kong, Apple stores began accepting pre-orders for the new iPad yesterday, with delivery between March 16 and 26, according to Apple Hong Kong's website. The new iPad in Hong Kong costs HK$3,888 (US$501) for the 16GB model, HK$4,888 for the 32GB and HK$5,488 for the 64GB, according to the website.