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New IPad Makes Asia Debut, Widens Lead Over Google
Apple Inc. (AAPL) started selling its new iPad today, betting on a sharper screen and faster chip to extend its lead over Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Google Inc. in the growing market for tablet computers.
At Apple’s glass-walled store in Sydney’s George Street, employees in blue T-shirts cheered and counted down the seconds until doors opened at 8 a.m, as a line of at least 200 people snaked around three sides of the city block. Two hours later, iPad sales began at Softbank Corp. (9984)’s Ginza store in Tokyo.
“There’s seems to be a lot of improvement in the new iPad,” said Takaya Ito, 37, an associate professor at Tokyo’s Aoyama Gakuin University, who stood in line at the Ginza store to upgrade from his iPad 2. “I read a lot of theses on the iPad, but since the display isn’t so good in the iPad 2, my eyes get tired. I’m hoping the new model will solve that.”
The 9.7-inch device, unveiled by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook March 7, is the biggest upgrade yet to Apple’s tablet before Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) introduces new software that will run on competing devices. Generating demand with the model is important to Apple so it can fend off competition from devices that use Google’s Android operating system and the $199 Kindle Fire from Amazon that’s popular among cost-conscious buyers.
“It leaves everyone else behind again,” said Jean-Louis Lafayeedney, an analyst at JI Asia in Hong Kong.
‘Beautifully Integrated’
The new iPad, with a price tag of $499 to $829 in the U.S., includes a chip that enables better graphics, Apple said. It also boasts a screen with more pixels than traditional high- definition TVs and runs on long-term evolution, or LTE, wireless networks that deliver data faster.
Apple will sell a $499 base model that has 16 gigabytes of memory and works only on Wi-Fi networks. An $829 model has 64 gigabytes of memory and works on both Wi-Fi and LTE networks.
After debuting today in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, the device is scheduled to go on sale in France, Germany, the U.K., Canada and the U.S.
“I’ve got all their stuff,” said Jonathan Hakim, 22, a doctoral student and wedding photographer in Sydney who started lining up for the iPad yesterday afternoon. “Everything works together, it’s so beautifully integrated, it’s so streamlined.”
Kento Inoue, a 20-year-old university student who was first in line outside the Ginza Apple Store in Tokyo, said he showed up at 7 p.m. on March 14.
“I wanted to be the first person in Japan to get the new iPad,” said Inoue, who already owns the previous two models and uses the iPad for net surfing at home and as a dictionary at school. “I’m proud of it.”
Early Opening
About 70 people lined up at Softbank’s store, compared with about 250 who waited for the iPad 2, said Arata Kurihara, a spokesman for the company, Japan’s third-largest mobile-phone carrier. The decrease is probably because customers have realized they can reserve the model without waiting in line, he said. Some versions of the new iPad are already almost out of stock, Kurihara said.
In Hong Kong, buyers had to register online yesterday to be able to get a new iPad today. The city’s sole Apple Store opened at 8 a.m., an hour before the normal start of business, to allow those who’d registered to collect their tablets.
About 50 customers with advance reservations waited outside when the shop opened. Ronald Ng, a 22-year-old university student, wasn’t able to reserve a device but accompanied his girlfriend, who succeeded.
“I was so upset,” Ng said. “I want to buy two.”
Telstra, Optus
His girlfriend, 22-year-old Jennifer Chung, said the 64- gigabyte iPad she bought for HK$5,888 ($759) will be even more portable than the MacBook Air she already owns.
“I’m going to use it to surf the Internet and watch movies,” Chung said. “I’ll also take it to school.”
Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman, declined to say how many customers registered for the tablet in Hong Kong.
In Australia, Telstra Corp. (TLS), the nation’s biggest phone company, and the second-ranked Optus unit of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST) began sales of the new iPad. Even though the product doesn’t work on Telstra’s new fourth-generation network, it will be compatible with existing third-generation services.
Stephen Parkes, 37, started lining up four days ago and was the first customer into Apple’s George Street store after being paid A$950 ($1,000) by freelance employment website Airtasker.com to stand in line.
<a href="http://www.tipard.com/ipad-transfer-pro.html">iPad Transfer</a>
At Apple’s glass-walled store in Sydney’s George Street, employees in blue T-shirts cheered and counted down the seconds until doors opened at 8 a.m, as a line of at least 200 people snaked around three sides of the city block. Two hours later, iPad sales began at Softbank Corp. (9984)’s Ginza store in Tokyo.
“There’s seems to be a lot of improvement in the new iPad,” said Takaya Ito, 37, an associate professor at Tokyo’s Aoyama Gakuin University, who stood in line at the Ginza store to upgrade from his iPad 2. “I read a lot of theses on the iPad, but since the display isn’t so good in the iPad 2, my eyes get tired. I’m hoping the new model will solve that.”
The 9.7-inch device, unveiled by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook March 7, is the biggest upgrade yet to Apple’s tablet before Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) introduces new software that will run on competing devices. Generating demand with the model is important to Apple so it can fend off competition from devices that use Google’s Android operating system and the $199 Kindle Fire from Amazon that’s popular among cost-conscious buyers.
“It leaves everyone else behind again,” said Jean-Louis Lafayeedney, an analyst at JI Asia in Hong Kong.
‘Beautifully Integrated’
The new iPad, with a price tag of $499 to $829 in the U.S., includes a chip that enables better graphics, Apple said. It also boasts a screen with more pixels than traditional high- definition TVs and runs on long-term evolution, or LTE, wireless networks that deliver data faster.
Apple will sell a $499 base model that has 16 gigabytes of memory and works only on Wi-Fi networks. An $829 model has 64 gigabytes of memory and works on both Wi-Fi and LTE networks.
After debuting today in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, the device is scheduled to go on sale in France, Germany, the U.K., Canada and the U.S.
“I’ve got all their stuff,” said Jonathan Hakim, 22, a doctoral student and wedding photographer in Sydney who started lining up for the iPad yesterday afternoon. “Everything works together, it’s so beautifully integrated, it’s so streamlined.”
Kento Inoue, a 20-year-old university student who was first in line outside the Ginza Apple Store in Tokyo, said he showed up at 7 p.m. on March 14.
“I wanted to be the first person in Japan to get the new iPad,” said Inoue, who already owns the previous two models and uses the iPad for net surfing at home and as a dictionary at school. “I’m proud of it.”
Early Opening
About 70 people lined up at Softbank’s store, compared with about 250 who waited for the iPad 2, said Arata Kurihara, a spokesman for the company, Japan’s third-largest mobile-phone carrier. The decrease is probably because customers have realized they can reserve the model without waiting in line, he said. Some versions of the new iPad are already almost out of stock, Kurihara said.
In Hong Kong, buyers had to register online yesterday to be able to get a new iPad today. The city’s sole Apple Store opened at 8 a.m., an hour before the normal start of business, to allow those who’d registered to collect their tablets.
About 50 customers with advance reservations waited outside when the shop opened. Ronald Ng, a 22-year-old university student, wasn’t able to reserve a device but accompanied his girlfriend, who succeeded.
“I was so upset,” Ng said. “I want to buy two.”
Telstra, Optus
His girlfriend, 22-year-old Jennifer Chung, said the 64- gigabyte iPad she bought for HK$5,888 ($759) will be even more portable than the MacBook Air she already owns.
“I’m going to use it to surf the Internet and watch movies,” Chung said. “I’ll also take it to school.”
Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman, declined to say how many customers registered for the tablet in Hong Kong.
In Australia, Telstra Corp. (TLS), the nation’s biggest phone company, and the second-ranked Optus unit of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST) began sales of the new iPad. Even though the product doesn’t work on Telstra’s new fourth-generation network, it will be compatible with existing third-generation services.
Stephen Parkes, 37, started lining up four days ago and was the first customer into Apple’s George Street store after being paid A$950 ($1,000) by freelance employment website Airtasker.com to stand in line.
<a href="http://www.tipard.com/ipad-transfer-pro.html">iPad Transfer</a>
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