The cost of an iPad remains competitive in South Africa following the recent iPad 3 launch prices announcement made by Core Group, official distributors of Apple products in South Africa.
Core’s recommended retail prices for Apple’s newest range of tablet PCs were announced on Monday (23 April 2012), and are within a few hundred Rand of the previous iPad pricing structure.
Where the prices aren’t the same, they are R200-R400 cheaper than before.
As with previous iPad iterations, there are Wi-Fi only models, and models that support mobile broadband in addition to Wi-Fi.
Over and above the high resolution “Retina” display, the iPad 3 also boasts support for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, which Apple markets as the “Wi-Fi + 4G” model.
The Core website lists the devices as such, though it should be pointed out that the iPad 3’s LTE feature won’t work in South Africa.
However, it will be able to connect to the 3G networks run by South Africa’s mobile network operators.
The table below shows how South Africa compares against the rest of the world, and against itself.
| iPad model | iPad 3 – ZA | Previous pricing | iPad 3 – US* | iPad 3 – UK | iPad 3 – EU (DE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16GB Wi-Fi | R4,999 | R4,999 | $499 (R3,922) | £399 (R5,051) | €479 (R4,948) |
| 32GB Wi-Fi | R5,999 | R6,199 | $599 (R4,708) | £479 (R6,064) | €579 (R5,981) |
| 64GB Wi-Fi | R6,999 | R7,199 | $699 (R5,494) | £559 (R7,077) | €679 (R7,014) |
| 16GB Wi-Fi + 4G | R6,299 | R6,499 | $629 (R4,944) | £499 (R6,317) | €599 (R6,188) |
| 32GB Wi-Fi + 4G | R7,299 | R7,599 | $729 (R5,730) | £579 (R7,330) | €699 (R7,220) |
| 64GB Wi-Fi + 4G | R8,299 | R8,699 | $829 (R6,516) | £659 (R8,343) | €799 (R8,254) |
*US prices are quoted excluding sales tax, and all the international prices exclude import duties.
iPad 3 press image
It’s also interesting to compare the announced prices against those of the iPad 2 when it launched in 2011. Prices have risen by between R600 and R700, but the Rand has also weakened against the US Dollar.
When the iPad 2 launched in South Africa during April 2011, a Dollar would have fetched you around R6.75. This started changing from August 2011, and a Dollar will cost you R7.86 at the time of writing.
Along with the pricing, Core also revealed that the new iPad would be sold by a large number of retailers, including: Digicape, iStore, FFWD, Capi, Cellucity, Cats Digital, Dion Wired, Digital Experience, Game, HiFi Corporation, Incredible Connection, Kloppers, Look & Listen, Makro, Nashua, Pick ’n Pay, and Sounds Great.
The Core Group website has a list of the branches that will stock the iPad 3.
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