Business

Friday July 30, 2010

The long wait for the iPad continues

Friday Reflections - BY B.K. Sidhu


Expect the iPhone 4G by or before September this year but the same cannot be said for the iPad.

Fortunately for the Singaporeans, they got the first taste of the Apple iPad last Friday. Some in the republic were queuing since 6am to get hold of the device and within half a day all the units – numbers not available – were sold out.

As for us, we are still waiting. The only thing Apple has said so far is that it will offer the iPads to more markets but, that’s it.

It is available here in the grey market, so they say. Some businessmen and executives are walking around with this amazing device they presumably bought from overseas, and Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, the boss of AirAsia, got his from the man – Steve Jobs – himself. So he claims.

In Singapore, the iPads are retailed from S$730 (RM1,708) to S$1,230 (RM2,950) for the Wi-Fi and 3G models.

The tablet is also available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and of course the US.

Apple has as of last week sold 2.27 million units since its availability and this generated revenues of US$2.7bil. Monthly sales are about 1.1 million iPads and by year-end it could have sold about 10 million tablets.

Why the iPads?

I am not promoting the iPad here, but it is an amazing device that you can take your world around with you.

The device weighs just 1.5 pounds, thinner and lighter than any laptop or network and delivers 10 hours, yes, 10 hours of battery life.

It was built for the executive and businessman in mind and not kids.

But this device is user friendly and good to keep kids busy for hours. It offers music, movies and games, educational as well as creative artistic applications. It’s like your kid’s first drawing block.

Its e-book application keeps the young glued to it and the screen is large enough not to put a strain on the eye compared to the smaller devices. It is said that ebooks are fast outselling hardcover books and the number quoted by a report says it could be as high as 143 to 100 respectively.

With all the hype about the iPad and all the data at one’s finger tips, it is a wonder why Apple still cannot make enough devices to satisfy demand.

Either it is not bothered, preferring people to wait for its devices, or there is poor planning despite a smart marketing strategy.

But the iPad has essentially broken old moulds and spurred its rivals to do the same.

The rivals are coming, in fact sharpening their blades for the onslaught.

The anticipation is that there will be dozens of Android Linux based tablets available for every budget later this year. By the time they reach our shores it could be next year.

Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as cellular phones, tablet computers and netbooks which any maker could use to develop devices whilst Apple is a propriety system.

Apple knows it has time and it will take a while for the rest to catch up. Perhaps that is why we are being left out of the action for now just the way we were made to wait nearly three years before the iPhone reached our shores.

The next battle experts say is the Apple-Android one, just like the Apple-Microsoft fight 25 years ago. For now, let’s just hope we do not have wait three years for the iPad.

  • Deputy news editor B.K. Sidhu wonders if there will be a sharp drop in prices for the iPhone 3G and 3Gs when the 4G makes its debut here.

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