China's young people are going iPad crazy.

After reports that some college students in southern China's Guangdong Province sold their sperm to buy the latest version of the tablet computer, comes a tragic tale of a 17-year-old boy in the eastern Anhui Province who sold his kidney to buy an iPad 2.

The student, surnamed Zheng, got 22,000 yuan (US$3,393) for selling one of his kidneys. But it was a decision he soon came to regret as his health is deteriorating, Shenzhen Satellite TV reported.

"I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it," said Zheng. "A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan."

On April 28, Zheng went to Chenzhou City in neighboring Hunan Province to have the kidney removed in a surgery arranged by the broker.

His parents knew nothing about it, Zheng said. He was paid 22,000 yuan after his right kidney was taken out at the Chenzhou No. 198 Hospital.

When he returned home with an iPad 2 and an iPhone, his furious mother contacted the police. But they could not locate the broker and his cellphone was always powered off, the TV report said.

It turned out that the Chenzhou No. 198 Hospital was not qualified to perform organ transplant surgery. Hospital officials claimed they had no knowledge about Zheng's surgery because the department that was involved had been contracted out to a Fujian Province businessman.

The case is still under investigation, the report said.

Previously, it was reported that many university students in Guangdong had decided to donate sperm in order to raise money to buy iPads and iPhones.

Local hospitals offer 300 yuan for each sperm donation and qualified donors attend hospital 10 times for each complete procedure.

Yu Hai, a sociologist from Shanghai's Fudan University, said new and stylish electronic products such as the iPad and iPhone represented a new kind of attraction for everyone, but especially youngsters.

"Young people can be overwhelmed by its use for game playing and can do something stupid if their parents don't buy them an iPad," Yu said.

Apple's iPad 2 sells for 3,688 yuan to 5,288 yuan and the iPhone for 3,999 yuan to 5,999 yuan on China's mainland depending on the model.