Consumer interest in Apple's new iPad, however, is expected to be diminished when compared to the iPhone 4S or previous iPad launches in the country, according to Nicole Peng, an analyst with research firm Canalys.

A major reason is because the new iPad is being sold in China four months after it was initially launched in the U.S. Consumers wanting to buy it, would have bought the device from the country's gray market vendors, who buy the product overseas and bring it to China to sell locally.

Ye, however, said he was willing to wait, wanting to buy the new iPad from an official Apple store, in order to receive a product warranty. "I have an iPad 2, so I'm not in a rush," he said. Ye, a gaming software developer, added that he wanted to buy the new iPad, because his mother often uses his iPad 2 to watch movies.

While the small crowd outside Apple's Sanlitun store was orderly in the morning, customers reported problems accessing the company's site to reserve an iPad on Thursday.

"At 9 a.m., the server crashed. Later I called, and they told me to come back to the site," said entrepreneur Ray Luan, aged 35. "After an hour I could then register."