Today Apple announced the launch of iPad 2 in India. This comes just a month after its UK release, which saw the masses lining up in more numbers than what we I have seen at siddhi vinayak temple. If we go back and see the iPad 1, it came to India in January. That’s 9 months after its international release and with 15million units already sold. Given this, the iPad 2 coming to India at this date is sure a big cheer for Apple fans. So what could be the reasons for Apples change of heart towards India?
Apple sure isn’t commenting on this and we have our own guesses.
1) 3G: India has recently got 3G love. And that might have helped push the priority for Apple. After all all Apple macbooks and ipods always launched in India in sync with the international launches. This is one of the mostly commonly believed reason for iPad 2 arriving in India.
2) The tablets race: Apple has plenty of competition in the smartphone space in India. The low end and Android rules here add to that the successful stint Blackberry has had here. Its sure difficult for Apple to penetrate deep into the phones market. Add to that the fact that they are always fighting production shortages. So when a new concept like a tablet comes through, where Apple leads the market with virtually no competition, it makes sense to launch early.
3) Simply faster production: another simple reason for Apple to launch the iPad 2 early in India can be the faster global rollout. the lead time for iPad 2 in US is down to 1-2 weeks and Apple is already selling in another 25 countries. Perhaps Apple has planned the iPad 2 production to facilitate a faster rollout.
Whatever the reason, its a cheer for the people getting iPad 2. We just wonder, why isn’t the iPhone 4 here yet?