Cheaper iPad 2 pricing a home run ton?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 24 March 2011 15:16

Your IT - Home IT

The iPad 2's lower international pricing than the iPad 1 last year is clearly always welcome, but it's impossible to factor in the cost of the iPad 2 alone, with so many accessories and apps you'll definitely want to buy!

At prices $50 to $100 cheaper than the iPad 1 last year, the iPad 2 has come out of the gate with a price advantage in many international locations.

Sure, the price is the same in the US, but that's because Apple is putting massive pricing pressure on its competitors, most of whom initially came out with tablets at much higher prices than Apple's US $499 entry point, which is AUD $579 for the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2 in Australia.

Of course the $949 iPad 2 with 64GB, 3G, Wi-Fi and 3GPS is nearly double the price, but it's the prized version which still comes in at $100 less than last year on a local basis, letting you put the savings towards a Smart Cover at $49 or $75, depending on the plasticity or leathery-ness that you desire, and filling your iPad 2 up with apps.

Many are free but plenty are paid, and while prices for iPad and iPad 2 software are dearer than most apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, they're usually still far cheaper than apps for your desktop or laptop PC or Mac.

That helps fuel the stunning growth of iPad 2 sales, the stunning growth of developer interest, the stunning growth of third-party accessories, the stunning profits for Apple and the stunning, non-stop interest in all things iPad 2 and Apple.

The biggest problem for most wannabe iPad 2 owners is the little issue of actually getting one. Yes, a miracle for iPad 2 owners-to-be could occur, and lines could be short, but history says no way, Jose - if you don't get your iPad 2 tomorrow or perhaps over the weekend, who knows when you'll be able to secure one of your very own?

It could be days, it could be weeks, it could even be a month or two.

Still, if the iPad 2 was a total piece of crap, no-one would care, no-one would stand in a line, and anyone uttering the words "iPad 2" would elicit a blank stare.

However, as we all know, that's not the reality we live in. The iPad 2 is still the best tablet on planet Earth, blowing away the competition and forcing manufacturers to do far better in an attempt to capture even a tiny slice of the iPad 2's popularity and software library.

So, as the hours to the iPad 2's launch in Australia and elsewhere around the world continue counting down, the iPad 2 craziness we've seen thus far ain't nothin' to what's comin'!