Apple may drop iPad price after lukewarm reception

Underwhelming response to Steve Jobs’s new gadget prompts talk of price cuts

LAST UPDATED 1:46 PM, FEBRUARY 9, 2010

In June 2007, Apple fans queued around the block for the chance to buy the first iPhone. The prospect of similar scenes in the US at the end of March, when the Apple iPad supposedly goes on sale, is fast receding.

The release of a survey last week suggesting that the wider public is nowhere near as excited as die-hard Apple fans at the imminent release of the iPad has been followed by the news that Apple would consider dropping the price of the iPad if the initial demand is slow. So, anyone considering buying the device as soon as it is released needs their head examined - or has too much money to care.

The survey, by online electronics shop Retrevo, suggests that after all the hype, people are disappointed with the iPad. Before the gadget's unveiling, 26 per cent of those polled said they'd heard about the iPad but weren't interested in buying one. But after Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated the iPad on January 27, that proportion doubled to 52 per cent.

The survey of 1,000 Retrevo customers is rather unscientific, but these are people who buy electronic goods, which does not bode well for Apple.

That might explain why Apple execs have been reported by a Credit Suisse analyst as saying they may reduce the price of the iPad if initial sales are poor. Bill Shope wrote in a note to investors: "While it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated)."

If the Retrevo survey is anything to go by, thrift gadget lovers would do well to hold off a couple of months before buying their iPad.

The downbeat public reaction will be particularly galling for Apple, given that the general view among technology observers has been that the $499-$699 price tag for the iPad is actually quite reasonable.

Comments

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No multitasking, no USB-slot, no memory-card slot, no conventional telephony, no Flash... nope, I'm sticking with my netbook, thanks! And it cost waaaay less than $699.

Posted by Neil McGowan at 9:12pm on February 10, 2010

I could not agree more. My trusty Samsung NC10 is coming up to its first birthday, I've used it every day for all the past year, often been running for 72 hours at a stretch. It has 3 usb ports, 160gb hdd, a webcam, wifi, a good 5-6 hours battery life, SD card slot and A PROPER KEYBOARD. That's really important-touch-screens are all very slick and gee-whizz, but are actually inefficient when it comes to the main task-typing. Why would anyone want to pay Ã‚Â£400 for an outsize iPod touch? And I speak as someone who owns-and loves-an iPhone .

Posted by Ian Onions at 10:49am on February 16, 2010

No, no, no. You're missing the point completely - the iPad is not for "gadget lovers"; the survey referred to is completely irrelevant. Other commenters: If you have a netbook, how nice, good on you. The iPad is not for you, so thanks for commenting but it's irrelevant what you think. iPad is for the millions of people for whom current computers and OS are too complicated, and - here's the important point - not necessary. It's not there to replace any current computer; it's to allow people to access content - music, email, web, ebooks, photos, videos - without all that other nonsense getting in the way. Nobody ever said it would replace traditional computing form factors, it just means you can get access to digital content without having to use a device with a form factor that's designed for other stuff. People either get it or they don't. The ones who don't get it tend to be the noisy ones...

Posted by Polsonby at 1:20pm on March 4, 2010

Trouble is it is to much iPhone (without the phone bit) and not enough MacBook. It must appeal to Netbook owners, because they are at the low tech end of the market who just want to access all that type of content (ie Facebook, films, the web-on-demand etc). Big, big disadvantage not having a camera (ironic when Apple were about the first to build cameras in as standard on all their major devices-and now standard on netbooks). Also big disincentive not having Flash player. I have always used Macs (started in 1980's with Apple III), use my MacBookPro for everything, every day and I love my iPhone. I'm a real Apple fan and I would love to love the iPad but can't get excited before the UK launch. Not surprised by the lack of interest and poor sales. Jobs get a grip-more MacBook less iPhone (but fit the phone as well as the camera & Flash compatibility)

Posted by BigMac at 1:09pm on April 7, 2010