[3GScottishUser]

At long last Apple have responded and dropped the price of the iPad in the USA. They have taken $90 off the base iPad and refunded customers who have purchaced it within the last three weeks.

It's no surprise that Apple have had to respond and become more realistic in terms of pricing. They know tablets are about to be 10 a penny with loads of options in just a few months.

I still think Apple are charging an excessive amount for their tablet products and they will get away with it for a while but they run the risk of becoming the innovator that will become the also ran if they maintain the premium pricing on their products Then again they may be happy with less market share and more margin?

I'm still sitting on the fence as I have no use for a tablet really. It would be another expensive toy that would sit in a cupboard after it had been explored and configured initally I suspect. (I have my laptop, netbook and an Android phone which works as a Wi-Fi Hotspot using 3G when I need a biigger screen to view things).

[miffed]

Well they had to do something , they barely sold 15,000,000 in the last 9 months , so Apple must be highly embarrassed by the magnitude of their failure !

I am sure they would love to see the same kind of success that Samsung enjoyed with the Galaxy Tab , which sold a maximum of 2,000,000 - that started at £599 , and was then reduced to £550, £450 , £400 , £350 and then recently £250 ! LOL !!

[Ben]

Eh?! What miffed said!

Also, don't know why Apple feel the need to refund anyone... prices decrease all the time as products age. So, yay for Apple's customers I guess.

AFAIK the original iPad was only discounted to shift remaining stock ahead of iPad 2.

[Hands0n]

There will be a reason Apple reduced their price and I suspect that it isn't quite as straightforward as may seem at first sight. My money is on Apple putting Android tablets under even greater pressure that it already is.

It is almost too funny for words to see the price of the Motorola Xoom and notional pricing of the Samung 10" Galaxy Tab. If they believe that they are going to ride on Apple's coat tails all the way to the bank, selling at premium prices, it appears that Apple has other ideas.

Already, it is reported that, Samsung have gone back to the drawing board on prices and design. Motorola will not have that luxury without eating into margins. But they may have to do just that.

So why do people buy the iPad no matter what? It has been said so many times before. In a word, ecosystem. Apple has it in spades. Out of the box there is a coherent integration across all of their product for web, contacts, calendar and mail. And with each iteration it gets tighter.

That is not to suggest that Android cannot compete. But to do so on an even footing is much more difficult for such an anarchic OS. Even Google recognise this and want to get a grip on the fragmentation that has already occurred. And so the result is a more PC-like experience, and all that entails.

Without question Android for phones has been phenomenally successful, and rightly so. It has driven down the price of smartphone technology making it so much more accessible. The same paradigm has to occur with tablets. Android cannot succeed by aping the iPad, it has to have a differentiator and that has been price for smartphones. It will have to be the same for tablets.

[Ben]

Just to be absolutely clear (or am I missing something)?

The 1st gen iPad prices were reduced by £100 when iPad 2 was announced. This appears to have been to shift the remaining stock of the 1st gen product in the face of an imminent and publicly known update, but I suppose the reasons could be numerous. Recent buyers were offered a refund of the price difference, and I assume something similar happened in the US?

Then in the US iPad 2 launched and the 1st gen iPad is no longer available via Apple. I.e. there is no lasting price cut, the iPad 2 is being sold at the exact same price points that the original iPad was being sold at.

Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[DBMandrake]

Well the discount in the us was $100 US not £100, but yeah, you're otherwise right.

Apparently this is not iPad specific either - if any major new revision of an Apple product comes out within a short time period (one or two weeks, not sure which) of you buying the previous generation, you can get a rebate.

For example if you bought a brand new Macbook Pro and then a week later the Macbook Pro's are all revved to new models that are higher spec'ed for the same price you can apply for a rebate, or return it so you can buy the new model. Pretty good really :)

[Ben]

Yes I've heard of them doing it in the past... A bizarre policy, but one that should be applauded IMHO! I certainly can't see a negative in it.