Apple to launch Wi-Fi iPad models in China on Sept. 17

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Apple announced on Monday that it will launch the Wi-Fi iPad in China this week on Friday, Sept. 17, with the multitouch device going on sale at the company's retail stores and authorized resellers at 10 a.m. local time.



iPad Wi-Fi models in China will be available for a suggested retail price of CNY3988 for 16GB, CNY4788 for 32GB and CNY5588 for 64GB. The press release made no mention of the 3G-capable model, which sells for $130 more than the Wi-Fi models in the U.S.



Apple said it plans to continue to release the iPad in "many more countries later this year." Availability and pricing for these additional countries will be announced at a later date.



In July, it was reported that Apple was in talks with Founder, a Chinese PC maker, to distribute the iPad in the nation of over one billion. Monday's announcement did not indicate that the PC maker would play a part in sales of the iPad.



In July, Apple opened a new megastore in Shanghai, as the company has pushed to have a greater presence in the country. Apple intends to open 25 new stores in mainland China as it focuses on building its brand name in the country.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    Can someone remind me in which countries it's already available. I'm pretty sure US, Canada and UK, but where else?
  • Reply 2 of 24
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sheff View Post


    Can someone remind me in which countries it's already available. I'm pretty sure US, Canada and UK, but where else?



    The device originally launched in the U.S. on April 3. The UK, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland followed on May 28.



    Then in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore on July 23.
  • Reply 3 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by herbapou View Post


    The device originally launched in the U.S. on April 3. The UK, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland followed on May 28.



    Then in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore on July 23.



    The thought comes to mind: that before too long, the largest market for iDevices will be in the same country that manufactures them.



    .
  • Reply 4 of 24
    An iPad 2 this year seems less and less likely. I guess we can keep hope for a January announcement.
  • Reply 5 of 24
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I wonder how popular it will be? Sometimes it's hard to know how successful an object from one culture will be in another. Also it will be there without the full iTunes Store behind it. I guess iPhone sales will be the best guide, or maybe Hong Kong sales.
  • Reply 6 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bcahill009 View Post


    An iPad 2 this year seems less and less likely. I guess we can keep hope for a January announcement.



    Jan event and March shipping. It's written on wall all this time.
  • Reply 7 of 24
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bcahill009 View Post


    An iPad 2 this year seems less and less likely. I guess we can keep hope for a January announcement.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by striker_kk View Post


    Jan event and March shipping. It's written on wall all this time.



    I never understood the "iPad 2 this year" rumor. The iPad just started to catch up with demand and there are still many countries to be served. I thought it is clear now that the iPhone refresh is in Jun/July, iPods in Sept, and iPads in April.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    The thought comes to mind: that before too long, the largest market for iDevices will be in the same country that manufactures them.



    How long before production will be too costly in China?





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    I never understood the "iPad 2 this year" rumor. The iPad just started to catch up with demand and there are still many countries to be served. I thought it is clear now that the iPhone refresh is in Jun/July, iPods in Sept, and iPads in April.



    Me neither. If the sales were less than expected then I can some mid-cycle refresh to boost sales, but not when they are considerably higher than market estimates, well beyond why Apple can produce months after the initial launch, and well below every country having official retailers. The sales are outpacing the initial iPhone sales on a comparative scale.



    BTW, now I could use a WiFi iPad and I'm debating on whether I should wait.
  • Reply 9 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    How long before production will be too costly in China?



    Now, that's a good question.



    And it leads to another-- what other country or area has the infrastructure, stable political system, workforce to support and benefit from electronics manufacturing.



    Of course, India... but what about Africa, South America, Mexico, Near East....



    Quote:

    Me neither. If the sales were less than expected then I can some mid-cycle refresh to boost sales, but not when they are considerably higher than market estimates and well beyond why Apple can produce months after launch and well below wert country has official retainers.



    BTW, now I could use a WiFi iPad and I'm debating on whether I should wait.



    That, too, is a good question. The Safari bug/limitation still exists (that caused you to return your iPad). I believe that Apple is trying to avoid updating iOS 3.2 to devote those resources to bring the iPad into the mainstream with iOS 4.2.



    I suspect that the Safari issue will be somewhat resolved in iOS 4.2.



    The elephant in the room, however, is the 256MB RAM. Especially on devices without Virtual Memory Paging. For example, will iMovie be able to run acceptably on a device with that RAM / Paging restriction..



    That restriction, IMO will preclude the use of the iPad for any apps that do non-linear manipulation of large data files.



    I expect that the next iPad will have at least 512MB RAM (possibly more) to ease the restriction-- but the problem will never be totally resolved without the ability to page-out segments of large data files.





    The way I look at purchases like this (aside from being a gadget freak) is: If the need justifies the device, now-- go ahead and buy it now.



    You will get your usage and needed capability-- that's worth something. With most Apple products there is a high resale so it isn't as critical to wait for the "device that will not be obsolete the day you buy it".



    We were planning on getting my 14-year-old granddaughter an IPad or laptop (her choice) as she entered High School. It never happened, because her school has a policy: "no electronic devices in the classroom".



    We, too, are considering an iPad (the third) because the kids really use the things:



    1st choice: iPad

    2nd choice: iPhone

    3rd choice: iMac



    And it's not just games, we have educational and creative apps (painting, drawing, music), etc, productivity (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc), Education (drill and practice) and 51 books.



    .
  • Reply 10 of 24
    This is a strange question. We are about to buy an iPad for someone (who is 80) in China. We have tried setting the "language" to Chinese, and note that much English still remains, a potential problem.



    Will the Chinese version be more "Chinese"?
  • Reply 11 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hledgard View Post


    This is a strange question. We are about to buy an iPad for someone (who is 80) in China. We have tried setting the "language" to Chinese, and note that much English still remains, a potential problem.



    Will the Chinese version be more "Chinese"?



    No. iOS does not have specific region variants with more "in depth" use of the chosen language, ie, a stock german iPhone is no different ,OS wise, to a stock US model set to german.
  • Reply 12 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hledgard View Post


    This is a strange question. We are about to buy an iPad for someone (who is 80) in China. We have tried setting the "language" to Chinese, and note that much English still remains, a potential problem.



    Will the Chinese version be more "Chinese"?



    I don't know the answer...



    But, to see what you see what you are asking, I changed the language on my iPad.



    It did kind of a mini-reboot, then most words were in Chinese characters...



    I don't read Chinese, so I couldn't figure out how to get back to English!



    Luckily, we have a second iPad...



    Be careful!



    .
  • Reply 13 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hledgard View Post


    This is a strange question. We are about to buy an iPad for someone (who is 80) in China. We have tried setting the "language" to Chinese, and note that much English still remains, a potential problem.



    Will the Chinese version be more "Chinese"?



    As someone pointed out the iOS is the same regardless of region. However, I have noticed that Apple does improve language support in major releases. For example, the iPad iOS still does not support Arabic language even thought the iPhone iOS does but in the next iOS 4.2 update Apple said they will add support for Arabic. You will still get some elements within the iOS, mainly apps names, still in English. This is why they have icons
  • Reply 14 of 24
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    We were planning on getting my 14-year-old granddaughter an IPad or laptop (her choice) as she entered High School. It never happened, because her school has a policy: "no electronic devices in the classroom".



    I have to say, that sounds very odd.

    Does she go to Ned Ludd High School?
  • Reply 15 of 24
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quinney View Post


    I have to say, that sounds very odd.

    Does she go to Ned Ludd High School?



  • Reply 16 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quinney View Post


    I have to say, that sounds very odd.

    Does she go to Ned Ludd High School?



    Nice.



    Here's a very nice piece from NYT in 1998: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstra...AB0994D0494D81



    PS: Microsoft connection unintentional.
  • Reply 17 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The press release made no mention of the 3G-capable model, which sells for $130 more than the Wi-Fi models in the U.S.



    Is there decent 3G coverage in China? I thought that 3G licenses in China have been handed out only starting the past year or so? (And, just this year in India).
  • Reply 18 of 24
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    How long before production will be too costly in China?






    I think it will be quite a long time. There was just an article in Businessweek where the founder of Foxconn was interviewed. The subject of the suicides was brought up, and the Foxconn exec said that they are planning to build factories closer to the areas where the workers originate, to allow them to have more connections to their families and friends. If this means building factories farther away from the big cities, there are millions and millions of people living in poverty in these areas, who might appreciate the steady pay of a factory job. They possibly would accept the same (or even less) pay than the current Foxconn employees receive.
  • Reply 19 of 24
    it'll be launched in south america too on the same date http://www.apple.com/la/ipad/buy/
  • Reply 20 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quinney View Post


    I have to say, that sounds very odd.

    Does she go to Ned Ludd High School?



    Yeah, you would think so...



    Sad thing is we are about 60 miles from Silicon Valley & her parents used to commute to the San Jose area.



    The other weird thing is there is a pilot program being tested in California to replace textbooks with iPads...



    http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/...urriculum.aspx



    ... just in the wrong school district, I guess...





    BTW, filed under arcane facts of little use: there is a Junior Junior High School-- General George S. Patton, Jr. Junior High School, Ft. Leavenworth, KS.



    http://usd207.com/modules/cms/pages....0a0672e350fba5





    Update: to add insult to injury (or some such), at Junior Junior HS:



    Patton Junior High has endeavored to remain on the leading edge of educational technology. In addition to three student computers in each classroom, the school also has three networked labs (Keyboarding and applications, Science 7, Tech Lab) as well as two writing labs and a mobile, wireless LAN cart from which students can access the internet. Every student who attends Patton should acquire skills in writing, researching, and citation of term papers, as well as learning how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, and HTML in support of academic goals.



    ... we're not in Kansas, anymore...



    .
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