????路透社（Reuters）和英國《金融時報》（Financial Times）周一均刊登了關于中國水貨蘋果（Apple）市場的文章，雖然兩篇文章的結論迥異，但有一點是一致的，即兩周來新iPad售價已下跌了大約 30%。

????新iPad——即擁有那款神乎其神Retina顯示屏的iPad——在美國上市后的第二天就出現在了北京的水貨市場。當時，這款在美國零售價不到500美元的機型中國經銷商可賣到1,100 美元。路透社的報道稱，如今，600美元或700美元的售價更為常見。

????這是怎么回事？

????英國《金融時報》用兩位采訪對象的直接引語給出了兩種解釋：

????“現在的人們對iPad理性多了，”北京科技園區中關村的一位經銷商薛金鵬（音譯）稱?！八麄兏敢獾葍r格跌下來，甚至等到行貨上市。”

????上海某外資保險公司的秘書Annie Zeng是一位眾所周知的果粉，她說，她感覺新iPad價格更高，但并沒有提供什么新的東西。

????路透社的文章顯然花了更多心思，它全程追蹤了iPad在舊金山地區的蘋果專賣店被購入、裝入手提箱、速遞至香港、然后再由背包客走私運入中國內地的整個過程，最后得出了一個截然不同的結論。

????文章指出，不同于iPad 2在美國上市后近兩個月才在中國香港和上海開售，第三代iPad在美國上市后一周就已經可以在中國香港和上海經銷商處批量購買。

????兩篇文章并不矛盾，但標題發出了截然不同的信號：

????? 路透社：中國走私iPad生意遭遇倒春寒

????? 英國《金融時報》：新iPad在中國內地遇冷；商家紛紛降價甩貨

????譯者：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