iPad UK prices plus further delay Sunday May 16th
Apple have announced the UK prices for the iPad in all its specifications. Initial reaction to the prices was largely negative with comments on the apparent difference between US and UK prices. However allowing for the differences in UK and US taxes (and the fact that US prices are quoted without tax while UK prices include VAT at 17.5% mean that UK customers will end up paying a 340 or so premium for their devices.
iPad prices in full:
- 16GB WiFi - £429
- 32GB WiFi - £499
- 64GB WiFi - £599
- 16GB 3G - £529
- 32GB 3G - £599
- 64Gb 3G - £699
Apple supremo Steve Jobs defended the UK pricing robustly, asking UK consumers to "educate themselves" with regard to UK VAT laws.
The real story turns out to be the pricing for 3G data plans by UK mobile supplier, who true to form have identified another market to fleece on data charges, with Orange being the first to announce a distinctly ungenerous offer of:
£2 per day Pay AS You Go with a 200MB data cap or
£25 per month with a 10GB data cap
Both these plans are unlikely to appeal to data hungry iPad users. The costs and restrictions are broadly echoed across all UK mobile suppliers.
After initially delaying the launch of the UK iPad by a month Apple again announced that the general launch of the device was being pushed back from the 28th May to the 7th June. However customers with existing pre orders would have these fulfilled by the original launch date. Apple again cited strong US demand for the device as the reason for the second delay.
