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New iPad more costly at Apple
Coincidentally, iPad 2 sales could usurp numbers for the new iPad as prices for the former are slashed by almost $200 on some models.
Australian retailers are undercutting the consumer electronics and music giant by as much as $40 with the new iPad.
The third-generation iPad with a faster processor, better camera and finer resolution screen went on sale locally at the stroke of midnight but this time around Apple was not the first store to sell it. And it was far from the cheapest.
While the new iPad sports other improvements including 1280p high-definition video and much faster mobile network connectivity, the show could be slightly stolen by its predecessor the iPad 2, which some retailers are now discounting by almost $200 for some models.
The first enthusiasts to own the third-generation iPad were bought just after midnight from Telstra’s flagship stores in Sydney and Melbourne, and from three Big W stores that opened at midnight.
Two of these Big W stores were well away from CBDs -- in Rouse Hill, 46km northwest of Sydney, and Fountain Gate at Narre Warren, 44km southeast of Melbourne. Big W last night began offering the new iPad for up to $40 less than Apple and will continue to do so.
Australia is the first country to receive the new iPad, so David Tarasenko, 34, of Cheltenham, Victoria appears to be the first to own one, having bought it through Telstra.
The telco handled queues outside its flagship stores differently to Apple. Customers who turned up to buy the new iPad at Telstra’s George Street, Sydney store before midnight were issued with numbers and waited inside.
They were entertained with pinball machines and 70s-style football tables and given refreshments. A Telstra spokesman said 70-80 customers took numbers before midnight but a lot more bought the new iPad.
Today, Big W is selling the 16, 32 and 64 GB WiFi only models for $498, $628 and $748 and the WiFi + 3G/US 4G models for $668, $778 and $858
Apple is selling the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB WiFi versions of the new iPad for $539, $649 and $759 respectively while WiFi + 3G/4G models will cost $679, $789, and $899.
Target is discounting the new iPad with all models costing exactly $1 more than at Big W.
A few doors down from Apple’s flagship store in Sydney, Dick Smith is selling the new iPad at standard Apple prices, as it is nationally on its website.
A Dick Smith spokesman said trading had been brisk with 200 transactions in three hours.
Parallel importer Kogan is offering an even heavier discount: $479 for a 16GB WiFi model but you’ll have to wait for deliveries from April 2 to 6 and Kogan’s delivery fee depending on location can nudge the cost above $500.
Harvey Norman general manager of computers Ben McIntosh said its stores would be offering a slight discount on the new iPad when its marketing campaign gets underway this afternoon.
Telstra is selling mobile network enabled WiFi + 3G/US 4G versions on four 24-month data+ tablet plans. Customers can buy iPads with, for example, $0 upfront with a monthly $68 payment which included 8GB of data each month. Business plans are also available.
Optus also is offering 24-month plans with 500MB, and 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16GB of data for mobile-enabled models. Monthly repayments for the 16GB new iPad would be $19, $29, $39, $49, $59 and $79. There are plans for small- and medium-sized business customers too.
Vodafone is offering 12 and 24-month tablet plans with 2, 6, 12, 14 or 18GB of data upload/download. A 24-month plan for an iPad with 16GB of storage, for example, costs $47, $57, $67, $77 and $87 for 2, 6, 12, 14 or 18GB of data.
The big savings are for the superseded iPad 2.
From today Apple will sell the iPad 2 for $429 and $569 for the 16GB and 32GB WiFi versions while other retailers such as Dick Smith and Big W have dropped prices even further, selling entry-level iPad 2’s for under $400 and discounting the high-end WiFi-3G model by almost $200.
Kogan is selling the 16GB iPad 2 WiFi model for $409 plus postage.
Apple’s third-generation model is an incremental upgrade, the centrepiece being its improved 264 pixels per inch screen. The iPad 2’s poor 0.92 megapixel back facing camera is now a more respectable 5 megapixel camera in line with its competition, and can record full 1080p high definition video.
But the new iPad already has faced controversy over Apple’s decision to call dub it “WiFi + 4G” when it is incompatible with both Telstra’s 4G long term evolution (LTE) network and Optus’s 4G LTE network, which will be rolled out shortly starting in regional NSW.
University of NSW consumer protection law expert Michael Handler had said that Apple could face problems if the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, and the courts decided local buyers may not understand that the 4G-branded iPad did not work on 4G networks here, but only selected 4G networks in the US and Canada.
The fact the new iPad is not 4G-capable locally also puts it at a disadvantage against competitors such as Samsung which is selling an Australia-specific 4G version of its 8.9-inch tablet that works here.
Apple appears to be sticking with selling a single US-network configured versions of its tablets globally.
There’s also concern about delays in the supply of screens for the new iPad, with reports saying the initial batch of new iPads would not be equipped with Sharp's liquid-crystal-display panels. Ironically Apple's main rival Samsung along with LG Electronics would be suppliers of screens for the first batch of new iPads.
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