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Apple: iPad will not be released internationally until the end of May
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- amichail 17y agoUS customers are more important?
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- dsplittgerber 17y agoIt's an interesting business decision: Developing/Penetrating a (perhaps the most important world-wide) market deeply is more important to them than opening up new markets sooner rather than later.
- ttjervaag 17y agoIt's the usual modus operandi as far as Apple is concerned. Non-US Apple users and developers like me are getting used to this by now but it is nonetheless quite disappointing.
- vaporstun 17y agoWith all due respect, Apple is a US company, so giving preference to their homeland is hardly unconscionable.
- goatforce5 17y agoIt also helps that the US is a large market with lots of people with disposable income. But make no mistake: if they thought they could make more money(/it was better for the business) to launch it somewhere else first, that's where it would have happened.
- cmelbye 17y agoWhat makes you think that? Just because they don't have it available to the entire world on day 1 means that US customers are more important?
- MWinther 17y agoThe US market should be a good indicator on how many units will be sold in other regions, I suppose. Plus sending over a few thousand units to Europe would probably just increase frustration about it not being available when they were sold out. I guess it takes a while to set up a supply chain for a new product that they had no idea about how many people would go for.
- c1sc0 17y agoSo, any US HN user willing to send a european developer an iPad for a reasonable price? Exactly how are we supposed to debug our apps without access to hardware?
- tialys 17y agoIf I could get my hands on one, I'd do it... but I can't find one nearby and they're 5-7 days online :\ It's sad to think the rest of the world is waiting (as far as developing goes).
- fierarul 17y agoYes, it's a real shame that Apple treats developers this way. They are expected to develop top-quality apps but only using the Simulator. A more normal behavior would have been to provide international developers a way to order iPads from day one. Something like the ADC Hardware Purchase Program but for iPhone developers.
- colinplamondon 17y agoI think most folks who have serious iPhone development businesses ordered in the US and forwarded by FedEx overnight.
- fierarul 17y agoYeah, and then Apple would be surprised by the huge US demand, no ? Of course anybody wanting the iPad already did something similar but it's a drag and non-US developers/companies shouldn't "smuggle" iPads out of the country but buy them in their respective countries.
- cubicle67 17y agoYeah, be nice if there were some provision for paid-up iPhone developers to jump the queue a bit.
- dc2k08 17y agoHaven't used them yet but there is a start-up called budlebox.com who will act as po box for you in the states and forward goods on to you.
- froo 17y agoLet me translate this. Apple to rest of the world: Fuck you.
- petercooper 17y agoDelays happen. I suspect Apple are having supply chain issues with the screens (9.7" non-widescreen IPS screens are hardly a commodity item). Nonetheless, it seems crazy that Apple didn't institute a developers program as they did for the PPC-Intel transition. US iPad developers basically get a two month headstart on everyone else. Hardly a way to foster good feelings amongst a base of developers already sensitive to App Store and contract issues.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- pistoriusp 17y agoThis is one of the reasons why I shipped one from NYC to Johannesburg.
- ghshephard 17y agoAny HN developers outside of the United States - drop me an email and I'll be happy to go UPS/FedEx you an iPad. Heck, I'll even let you use my US Post Office box (650 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA) if you need a US address to sign up for the iPad developer program.
- illumin8 17y agoIt's not surprising that there is high demand and a shortage right now. I'm seeing completed (sold) eBay listings for 16GB Wifi models anywhere from $595 up to $800. The secondary market is a huge indicator of the unmet demand in the primary market.
- eru 17y agoPerhaps the suppliers in the primary market should resort to auctions when demand is high? For extra corporate do-gooding they could sell any proceeds that exceed the usual price to charity.
- shin_lao 17y agoClassic marketing trick, keep offer low to maintain high demand and high buzz. In your brain this translates as : rare -> valuable
- axod 17y agoYeah because that worked for Google Wave ;) It can sometimes work, but sometimes people just get bored and move on.
- rpledge 17y agoAlso known as a "Velvet Rope" strategy
- mcormier 17y agoIt's not just a marketing trick. Keeping product warehouse inventories low reduces risk and allows a company more flexibility when changing products.
- lispm 17y agoGreat! More time for Steve to think how to lift the developer restrictions. My buying decisions for iPhone OS gear are delayed until then.
- dinde 17y agoI wonder if they could be fixing the WiFi issues?
- barranger 17y agoAm I the only one who see's the numbers as a bit odd? So the first day (april 3rd) they sold 300,000 units. Four days later (april 8th) they were talking about having sold 450,000 units (~37.5k per day) now 6 days after that, they announce 500,000 units (~8.3k per day). How exactly is this "a runaway success"?
- GHFigs 17y agoThe 300k figure was sales as of the first day, including three weeks of pre-orders. They did not drop from 300k/day to 37k/day, because there was never a single day that they sold 300k. They sold ~14k/day over the three weeks. The 500k figure listed here is delivered. There is currently a 5-7 day delay, which suggests there are a few hundred thousand orders not being counted in that figure.