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New iPad goes on sale Mar. 16
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. started selling its new iPad today, betting on a sharper screen and faster chip to extend its lead over Google Inc. and Amazon.com 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 the city block. Two hours later, the iPad went on sale at Softbank Corp.’s Ginza store in Tokyo.
“There 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 was upgrading 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 on March 7, is the biggest upgrade yet to Apple’s tablet before Microsoft Corp. introduces new software for competing devices. Generating demand with the model is important for Apple to fend off competition from devices using 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.”
Early Opening
Kento Inoue, a 20-year-old university student who was first in line outside the 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. “I’m proud of it.”
About 70 people lined up at Softbank’s store, compared with about 250 who waited for the iPad 2 last year, said Arata Kurihara, a spokesman for 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 were 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 an hour earlier at 8 a.m. to allow those who’d registered to collect their tablets.
iPad Video Converter
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 the city block. Two hours later, the iPad went on sale at Softbank Corp.’s Ginza store in Tokyo.
“There 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 was upgrading 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 on March 7, is the biggest upgrade yet to Apple’s tablet before Microsoft Corp. introduces new software for competing devices. Generating demand with the model is important for Apple to fend off competition from devices using 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.”
Early Opening
Kento Inoue, a 20-year-old university student who was first in line outside the 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. “I’m proud of it.”
About 70 people lined up at Softbank’s store, compared with about 250 who waited for the iPad 2 last year, said Arata Kurihara, a spokesman for 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 were 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 an hour earlier at 8 a.m. to allow those who’d registered to collect their tablets.
iPad Video Converter
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