I was so-o tempted to buy one in Japan last week, so I’m happy that TODAY reports the Apple iPad will go on sale here in Singapore on Friday (23rd Jul 2010, with iPhone 4 expected on the 30th).
The biggest surprise for me was that it’s only selling through Apple and authorised resellers. None of the local telcos will be offering it directly at this point.
Now, I definitely prefer not to have an operator or service provider involved in any of my device purchases, but I’d still be intrigued to know the inside story (Apple asking too much? Apple not interested in a deal for such a small market? Telcos don’t see any real benefit without exclusivity? TODAY – go investigate and report on that, not just the pricing press release maybe?)
Secondly, and not so surprising: the pricing is real nice. Probably one of the lowest worldwide, and not encumbered by contracts.
The WiFi-only models will retail for $728, $878 and $1,028 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. iPads with WiFi and 3G connectivity will retail for $928, $1,078 and $1,228 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively.
I was in Japan last week and checked out the iPad (of course). I now know it’s true: once you touch it you must have it. It is just so responsive and smooth to use, and the size and weight are just right for casual browsing and apps.
Remember the reports of 1km queues for the iPad in Japan back in May?. Well, now of course you just walk in and there are more demo units and helpful sales people than customers.
btw, I don’t know where all the Japanese iPads went .. traveling all over Tokyo for a week and I only saw one being used in the wild (and the owner appeared to be American), with everyone else still glued to their flip phones. I wonder if it’s just not private enough to be used on crowded public transport?
I didn’t have the SG prices at the time, but as a general rule Singapore tends to be cheaper for tech. I [just barely] managed to resist temptation, and it turned out the right bet – at least from a financial standpoint.
Now I can go queue for an iPad in Singapore;-)
<brain style=”state:on;fanboy:off;”>..or maybe just wait a few more days</brain>
Blogarhythm for this post: Bachelor Pad – Fantastic Plastic Machine
(Cross-posted @ Tardate)
our telcos are just very slow. they know ipad are coming and they still haven’t finalise their 3G pricing plans, which are important for people who are thinking of buying the 3G version. on the contrary there are a lot of noise on their website about iphone 4, which is not even lanuched here yet. may be they are afraid to show their cards to the competitors. again, they only think of themselves and just pay lip services to customers demand.
@dualapis Ahah, that makes sense. Thanks for the insight
http://www.digitalone.com.sg/news/article/12644/2
Price for telcos data plan are out.
Just heard from the news that Singaporeans are queuing up as early as 6am at Epi orchard to buy the first iPad in Singapore…. she actually takes a half day leave!
For me, i will rather order from the online store.
Online purchase seems a great way to go if you have decided to buy, especially now most models disappeared from stock yesterday. Who needs queues, anyway?
I’ve bought all my iPods that way in the past, and they tend to arrive super-fast as long as there is stock (Apple distribution centre is a short walk down the road from me;-)
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