International iPad Launch: When, Where & How Much?
April 26, 2010
As you might remember, the iPad was due to go international around these days. Of course, Americans had to take all of them so Apple postponed the international launch by a month to build some stock. Frustrating right?
Alright, so now that we've dealt with that; let's see what we know so far about the international launch.
When
About the timing, we really only know two things so far. First, pre-orders are officially scheduled to start May 10th and second, the units should be available by the end of May. Since Apple will most probably stick to a Saturday launch and needs some time to ship, this leaves us either May 22nd or 29th. Apple also gave itself three weeks between pre-orders and delivery in the US and tends to go last minute; so May 29th should be the d-day.
Where
In the US, Apple went with a limited distribution through Apple Stores and Bestbuy. The US are however very privileged as to the amount of Apple Stores and this brought me to believe that Apple might be more permissive internationally. It's not quite so apparently, as recent reports are saying that Apple will not allow carriers to resell them. It might however still leverage its European Bestbuy-equivalent partners like MediaMarkt and Saturn.
Given the very limited numbers of Apple Stores, I believe most customers will have to go with home delivery and d-day pickup will close very early.
How much
The pricing question is most probably the biggest one here. We know a couple things about this; US Prices, Apple's Exchange rates, Import Prices, and relative prices.
So, let's base ourselves on the basic WiFi 16GB model. It's currently sold $499 in the US. At Friday's exchange rates this is about €374, or €450 with taxes.
Let's see Apple's exchange rates, aka European prices compared to American prices on other products. On average, Apple's USD/EUR rate is 0.94. This holds pretty much all across Europe, even in Switzerland which uses Swiss Francs instead. So following that logic, the iPad should cost €470.
About import pricing, aka the grey market prices you pay from third-party importers who buy in the US and resale outside: Nextway, a Swiss importer does the basic model for around €480, pretty much the same you would pay on Ebay, without shipping.
Furthermore, an iPad in the US costs half the price of a entry-level Macbook, and one fifth of a Mac Pro. If you were to use the same ratio to Apple's European prices, the iPad should cost exactly 449.5€ and 459€.
Lastly, it's believed that since Apple is not planning to allow carriers to resell the device, it will not be subsidized.
Redux
Alright, so here is my call: Wi-Fi models will hit the EU for a retail price of 450€ for 16GB, 530€ for 32GB and 610€ for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models should be available for 550€ for 16GB, 640€ for 32GB and 720€ for 64GB.
Lastly, the iPad will be available at the end of May, normally on the 29th in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Apple will announce official international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders for the iPad on May 10.
