Apple
The company will initially sell models that connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi networks, starting at $499. Versions that can also tap mobile-phone networks will be available in late April, Apple said today. When Apple introduced the iPad in January, the company said it would be available in March.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has pitched the iPad as a mobile device that falls between smartphones and laptop computers. With a 9.7-inch (25-centimeter) touch screen, it serves up Web pages, e-mail, music, videos, games, electronic books and iPhone applications. Apple may sell as many as 6 million this year, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“Demand will far outstrip supply for the next little while,” said Peter Misek, an analyst at Canaccord Adams in Toronto, who rates the shares “buy” and doesnt own any. “The U.S. is a priority market so the U.S. is going to get the first supply.”
Apple said today that all iPad models will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.
Largely Wi-Fi Driven
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, rose $8.24, or 3.9 percent, to a record $218.95 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have more than doubled in the past year.
The ship date is being welcomed by investors because it quashes recent speculation that the iPad was facing production delays and shortages, Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York, said today in a report.
“We believe availability in nine other countries by the end of April is likely quicker than many thought,” which may lead earnings to top analysts estimates this year, Reitzes said. Apple may sell about 2.8 million iPads this fiscal year, which ends in September, he said.
For $499, customers get a tablet with 16 gigabytes of memory. The 32-gigabyte version is $599, while a 64-gigabyte iPad is $699. Models that link up to AT&T Inc.s third- generation, or 3G, wireless network will cost $130 more than their Wi-Fi counterparts.
AT&T, the exclusive provider of iPhone service in the U.S., expects more customers will choose the Wi-Fi versions than spend the $14.99 or $29.99 per month for iPad 3G service, AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson has said.
“Our expectation is that theres not going to be a lot of people out there looking for one more subscription,” Stephenson said at a Morgan Stanley technology conference on March 2. “We think its going to be a largely Wi-Fi-driven product.”
Interest in the iPad could help spur worldwide PC sales in 2010 as customers look at tablets as an alternative to notebooks and netbooks, according to Gartner Inc. Sales of traditional PC- tablet computers and next-generation tablet devices like the iPad may reach 10.5 million units this year, the Stamford, Connecticut-based research firm said this week.
In addition to its iTunes site, which distributes music, movies and TV shows, Apple is setting up an online bookstore to distribute titles in the iPads new iBook format, challenging Amazon.com Inc.s Kindle reader.
Apple has been courting content providers — from book publishers to movie studios to film companies — to convince them to repackage their media to take advantage of a color touch screen thats larger than the 3.5-inch display on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Willing to Pay
Publishers could turn static content — such as newspapers, books and magazine stories — into interactive experiences, with links to videos such as author interviews, photos, audio, Web sites and advertising, said Kathryn Huberty, an analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York.
The companies are betting that customers, accustomed to free content on the Web, may be willing to pay for what they perceive to be premium content.
“The iPad is a great new device that opens up tremendous growth opportunities for us and other content providers,” Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger said after Jobs unveiled the iPad in January. “When people have a great experience, they consume more of the content they like, whether it be sports, books, games, TV or movies — and they are willing to pay to do so.”