Customers try out Apple's iPad at a Shanghai store. People who bought the tablet within two weeks before the discounted price was announced on March 3 can get a partial refund. [Photo / China Daily]

SHANGHAI - Apple Inc has said it will refund 1,100 yuan ($167) to its customers who recently bought an iPad.

The move came days after the gadget's price was lowered on March 3, in preparation for the launch of iPad 2, the second generation touch screen computer.

The price of the 16-gigabyte iPad was slashed 1,100 yuan to 2,888 yuan from 3,988 yuan.

The partial refund is available to customers who bought the tablet within two weeks before the discounted price was announced, meaning that the policy will apply to sales after Feb 18 and before March 3.

The refund will be available to customers who bought iPads from Apple's website or from direct sales stores, the company said.

Apple's iPad swept through the Chinese market after it was first introduced in April 2010. According to CNZZ data center, as of February 2011, iPad dominated China's tablet computer market with a 99 percent share, with the rest mainly covered by Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

Though Apple didn't require its authorized dealers in the country to give similar refunds, some of them were quick to follow up, refunding customers at their own expenses.

Sunning Appliance, one of the country's major electronics retailer, has said starting March 5, customers who bought iPad in its stores from Feb 17 to March 2 can get the 1,100 yuan refund, at the retailers expense.

Gome Appliance, Sunning's main competitor, announced similar policies, promising to refund the price difference to its customers who bought the gadget from Feb 18 to March 3.

But customers who bought the iPads from the grey market or smaller dealers are not as lucky.

Chen Qiuyan, a 26-year-old human resources manager in Shanghai, said she bought her iPad in a grey market in late February and has no way to get a refund.

"The shop owner said Apple's policy doesn't apply to him," she said.

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Last week, California-based Apple Inc said the iPad 2 will hit the US stores on March 11 at a starting price of $499, the same as the original iPad.

The sales in 26 more countries will begin on March 25, the company said. Though China is not on the list, interest in the new product seems to be strong in the world's second- biggest economy.

A survey by Hexun.com, a major online news portal, on Monday showed that more than 60 percent of consumers surveyed in China will buy the iPad 2, which features two cameras and a processor that is twice as fast as that of the original iPad's, processing graphics nine times faster. The survey polled 4,173 people online.

"Refund or no refund, it won't stop me from buying the new iPad. The experience with the gadget has been great," said Chen, the sales manager.

Reports in the local media said the iPad 2 could be available in the country's grey market as early as March 15, with a price tag of round 6,000 yuan.