All of Apple’s four retail stores in China started selling the iPad 2 tablets on Friday morning.

Apple fans started queuing up before the stores around a day ahead of the iPad 2’s planned launch, though some people in the line were scalpers who purchased the device and sold it for a profit of about $30.

After waiting for around 20 hours 48-year-old Yu Hong finally had her hands on the device what she had been dreaming for.

Expressing her happiness on getting the device, Yu Hong said, “I love it. I've been waiting so long for this. I can finally have what I've been dreaming of.”

Analyst Sun Peilin, of research firm Analysys International in Beijing, said that the launch of the second-generation tablet was likely to help Apple strengthen its position in China’s tablet market. Apple already enjoys a whopping 78 per cent share of the tablet market in China.

Currently, Apple has only four stores in China, but the Cupertino-based electronics giant has plans to open 25 new stores in the country over the next few years.