iPad - The sad reality is....

A

Acydebyte

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....we are only going to ge the iPad on contract in April next year..

A friend of mine has confirmed the following

1. Vodacom / MTN will not be the official importers
2. Core will officially import the item but only in April 2010, subsequent to the iPad 2 Launch
3. Vodacom and MTN have signed an agreement with Apple, that even if you local dealership stocks iPad via a "grey" import, they cannot bundle it with your Vodacom contract
 
I cannot fathom how Core, Vodacom and, to a lesser extent, MTN ('cos they're new to the iPhone game) dropped the ball like this with the iPad. It's been nearly a year since the launch and they've all missed an opportunity with thousands of customers and potential customers.
Somehow Core managed to get the new MacBook Air here days after it's release but I'm pretty sure that there would have been more interest for the iPad, not only from current Apple owners but, more importantly for Core and Vodacom, from people who might not otherwise have considered an Apple product.
Marketing and planning FAIL.
 
And this is why the grey import market is flourishing. Keep up the good work Apple.
 
They probably couldn't figure out where to price it, R10k and its going to eat macbook sales but less than R8k and they wouldn't be ripping us off.
 
Guantanamo said:
They probably couldn't figure out where to price it, R10k and its going to eat macbook sales but less than R8k and they wouldn't be ripping us off.
Click to expand...

+1

I think it's up to us consumers to press these guys between a rock and a hard place.
 
There's no support in terms of repairs and after sales service from Apples side. Even the iPhones only have a one year warranty. The SPs will be subject to a lot of abuse.

I'm not really worried, Voda will sell the BB pad and soon the galaxy tab.
 
greg0205 said:
I cannot fathom how Core, Vodacom and, to a lesser extent, MTN ('cos they're new to the iPhone game) dropped the ball like this with the iPad. It's been nearly a year since the launch and they've all missed an opportunity with thousands of customers and potential customers.
Somehow Core managed to get the new MacBook Air here days after it's release but I'm pretty sure that there would have been more interest for the iPad, not only from current Apple owners but, more importantly for Core and Vodacom, from people who might not otherwise have considered an Apple product.
Marketing and planning FAIL.
Click to expand...

The reason we could not get the iPad, was a stock shortage issue. I was in the USA in late May, and every single Apple store was out of every single model of iPad - there was not one iPad in the USA readily available. The way Americans had to get it, was to place an order with an Apple store, and they would get theirs in around 3 weeks (after a batch arrived in the country from the factory). I had to choose another method to get one. I bought mine from a student that was ordering iPad's, and when they arrived he would sell at a 20% markup.

There is no longer that kind of shortage, iPads started appearing on Apple shelves in the USA in September. However, I think they decided it is too late to start bringing in iPads now - so close to version 2. So I think we will get the version 2....provided there is not a mad rush and a shortage on that one as well
 
surfs-up said:
The reason we could not get the iPad, was a stock shortage issue. I was in the USA in late May, and every single Apple store was out of every single model of iPad - there was not one iPad in the USA readily available. The way Americans had to get it, was to place an order with an Apple store, and they would get theirs in around 3 weeks (after a batch arrived in the country from the factory). I had to choose another method to get one. I bought mine from a student that was ordering iPad's, and when they arrived he would sell at a 20% markup.

There is no longer that kind of shortage, iPads started appearing on Apple shelves in the USA in September. However, I think they decided it is too late to start bringing in iPads now - so close to version 2. So I think we will get the version 2....provided there is not a mad rush and a shortage on that one as well
Click to expand...

Pretty sure there will be... One of the rumors going round is a 7" iPad at a lower price point... Guess we'll only see those here in 2012/3 then...
 
capetownguy said:
Going to Madrid next week. R4,800 for an ipad.
Click to expand...

always a good idea to get it overseas ... i got mine from amsterdam in october .Payed R4650 for it and im happy with that :) but not everone can afford to travel and buy one ... is disgusting that SA has to wait on CORE to wake the f**k up .
 
greg0205 said:
Pretty sure there will be... One of the rumors going round is a 7" iPad at a lower price point... Guess we'll only see those here in 2012/3 then...
Click to expand...
I don't see that one happening.
 
surfs-up said:
Yeah, i don't see a 7" happening either. SJ even openly criticized 7" tablets as way too small to be productive, so it won't happen
Click to expand...

I wouldn't want one either... I was commenting on the global shortage of iPads surfs-up mentioned. Starting prices in the US are around $500 and he mentioned there was a three week wait, even for US customers, until quite recently... A smaller, cheaper version and the wait would be even worse.

PS. Gotta love that rumour mill 'tho...
 
The way this is going the BlackBerry PlayBook is going to capture the market here ... as it is doing with BIS and the 8520 currently. Just shows again that we have realities in the country that can force things in a different direction than where the international trends indicate it should go. The "smaller" player might just be the big one here because the big boys cannot get their act together here for various reasons.
 
BeVonk! said:
The way this is going the BlackBerry PlayBook is going to capture the market here ... as it is doing with BIS and the 8520 currently. Just shows again that we have realities in the country that can force things in a different direction than where the international trends indicate it should go. The "smaller" player might just be the big one here because the big boys cannot get their act together here for various reasons.
Click to expand...
Even though I have an iPad now I'd still love a PlayBook just for the free (inclusive) connectivity. Of course I'm working under the assumption that Vodacom/MTN will allow us to make use of that all inclusive data (a service most countries don't enjoy). :o
 
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