iPad rocking all over the world
In the basement of the Louvre in Paris, the queue for Apple’s iPad was far longer than that at the underground entrance to the museum to see the Mona Lisa and other iconic art treasures.
Hundreds queued up at the Apple store in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping centre, with staff cheering every purchase, as sales of the tablet computer outside the US began last Friday. Meanwhile, in Sydney, fans braved the chill of a Southern Hemisphere autumn to be among the first to buy the device, while in Tokyo people waited for as long as 40 hours to buy the device.
‘‘I tried to buy one in Seattle when I was there about 15 days ago, but they were sold out, so I decided to wait till it came to Europe,” said Julien Boidin, 28, who works for Microsoft Corp in Paris and has an iPhone and a Mac computer. ‘‘I live in Normandy and commute for four hours a day. I needed something for the train ride.”
Following the sale of a million of the devices in less than a month of its April 3 debut in the US, the iPad is now available in Australia, Canada, Japan and six European countries.
The maker of the iPhone and iPod, which last week became the world’s most valuable technology firm, may sell eight million iPads this year, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.
‘‘The thing with Apple is that it’s not just a piece of technology, it’s actually the whole experience,” said Rahul Koduri, 22, an engineering student in Sydney, who arrived at 2am to be first in line. ‘‘They just fit into your lifestyle so well. There’s no other product that does it.”
The company, based in Cupertino, California, delayed the release of iPads outside the US after underestimating demand at home. In Europe, the iPad initially will be available in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Britain. The device went on sale in Belfast last Friday, but will not be on sale in the Republic until July.
Apple is betting the iPad, which starts at €499 in mainland Europe – more than the $499 it sells for in the US, to reflect higher Vat – will entice enough consumers willing to pay a premium over low-cost notebooks. Rivals such as Microsoft have, however, failed to turn tablet computers into popular consumer devices.
‘‘I don’t really need it, but I want it,” said Jake Lee, 17, a student who camped overnight outside the Apple store on Regent Street, London. ‘‘I wanted to be one of the first people to get the iPad in Britain.”
Countries outside the US are likely to account for 43 per cent, or 3.5 million units, of iPad shipments this year, according to Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC in Toronto. The US will probably be the biggest market with 4.7 million, followed by France with 805,000 and Britain with 585,000, according to the report.
The iPad has a 9.7-inch touchscreen display that lets users view books, magazines, video, play games and surf the internet.
‘‘I’m going to use it for the internet, e-mail, video and controlling the other Macs at home,” said Andy Parkinson, 51, a communications engineer who bought his iPad in London. ‘‘I think it is a big hit here.
It already looks very good.”
German companies such as Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer, may equip thousands of sales reps with the devices as away to improve consultations and speed contract signings, according to weekly magazine Wirtschafts Woche.
Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, said the company sold a million iPads in 28 days, compared with the 74 days the iPhone took to reach that mark. Apple said this month that demand continued to exceed supply.
‘‘I’m buying it for my friend in Malta because it’s not available there yet,” said Isma Lanani, standing in line at the Louvre. ‘‘He manages a hotel there, but this is for his personal use. He’s Apple crazy.” Some British customers said they don’t expect such a huge rush for iPads as in the US.
‘‘Americans are very good at hyping these things up; perhaps British people are a bit more wary,” said Emily Dexter, 22, who works for a television production company. ‘‘I’m not going to buy one – I can’t afford it.”
The iPad will spur a six-fold increase in industry-wide shipments of tablet computers to 398 million by2 014, research firm IDC said this month. Shipments worldwide will rise to 46 million from 7.6 million this year, according to the Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC.
Last Wednesday, Apple became the most valuable technology firm in the world, after its market value hit $222.1 billion, higher than Microsoft’s $219.2 billion, on the optimistic belief it could keep adding customers for its iPhone, Macintosh computer and iPad. The shares gained 3.8 per cent yesterday to reach $253.35 in Nasdaq trading.
Last month, Jobs said second quarter profit almost doubled and sales soared 49 per cent on demand for the iPhone. The results don’t yet include the iPad, which went on sale after the close of the period for the company.
The iPad’s first wave of reviews praised its ability to deliver digital books and video quickly, and said it measured up well against other devices, including Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.
‘‘To all those people who don’t think they need one, I just want to say, ‘You just wait and see’,” said Toru Iijima,39, an information technology professional in Tokyo.
‘‘This is great for people who don’t like computers. I want to get one for my grandparents and my child.”
