THE NEW iPad may be the third iteration of Apple’s record breaking device but that hasn’t cooled the ardour of fans as people queued outside stores around the country yesterday to be among the first to get their hands on the tablet computer.
Several retailers said that sales had been faster than for the iPad 2, even though the new model has not even been designated iPad 3, suggesting it is more a refinement than a significant upgrade.
Three Currys and PC World stores in Dublin and Cork were the first outlets to put the eagerly anticipated tablet computer on sale when they opened just after midnight.
At 11.30pm on Thursday, eight hardy souls were queuing outside the branch in Swords, Co Dublin, although the numbers swelled to close to 30 by midnight. Similar numbers were reported at stores in Cork and Carrickmines in Dublin.
The first through the door in Swords was Andrew Morgan from Glasnevin, Dublin.
Clearly a technology fan, he was buying his first iPad but was waiting until the model with Retina display came on the market. The display, also featured on the latest iPhone, has four times more pixels than the iPad 2 and about one million more than the average high definition TV.
Mr Morgan said he would be buying the additional warranty protection as his three-year-old twins had dropped his iPhone 4 in a pond.
Wendy Rudd from Dublin was extremely pleased with her purchase, which was a surprise 50th birthday present for her husband, an avid photographer. She had been researching online and visiting shops all week to make sure she had one on launch day.
Asked where her husband thought she and her son were after midnight she replied: “We told a small white lie”.
Paula McCoy, home buyer for Arnotts, which opened its technology store at 8am yesterday, said about 20 people were in the queue which began to form at 6:45am. A nearby Bewley’s cafe provided free tea and coffee.
“Sales have exceeded iPad 2 sales so far,” said the spokeswoman. “A lot of customers who bought the original iPad are now replacing them.”
Peter Gallogly, commercial director of DSG Ireland, which operates the Currys and PC World brands here, said “half our stores are either sold out or sold out of particular lines”. Mr Gallogly said customers were choosing the higher specification models with more storage, and business was “more brisk than for iPad 2”.
Apple announced the new iPad, with improved cameras, a more powerful processor and support for faster mobile networks, earlier this month. Prices range from €479 to €799 depending on the model.