New iPad goes on sale in Taiwan through telecom carriers

Source: Want China Times

The latest version of Apple's iPad went on sale in Taiwan on May 11. Taiwan Mobile, the country's second largest carrier, and Far EasTone are both contracted with Apple to handle sales of the device.

Would-be buyers queued outside the Taipei stores of the two companies hours before they opened even though both carriers began taking pre-orders for the 4G-equipped version of the new iPad on May 1.

Both companies forecast total sales of the device will reach over 400,000 in the country by the end of the year. Taiwan Mobile said it has received pre-orders for 25,000 of the 4G version of the new iPad since May 1 while 28,000 pre-orders went to Far EasTone.

Cliff Lai, co-president of Taiwan Mobile, acknowledged that only half of pre-orders usually convert into actual sales but said his company was nonetheless expecting to sell some 200,000 iPads by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Far EasTone, Taiwan's No. 3 carrier, predicts sales of around 120,000 iPads, while its subsidiary retailer DataExpress Infotech is hoping to sell 80,000.

Alison Kao, spokeswoman for Far EasTone, said that the expected sales surge, which would include iPad accessories and 3G data services, could boost her company's revenues by about 20%.

It is the first time that Taiwan's telecom operators have gained distribution rights for Apple's tablet. Previously, only retailers such as Tsann Kuen Enterprise and DataExpress were permitted to sell the iPad in the country.

The new iPad features a high definition "retina" display, a 5-megapixel camera and a quad-core processor. The 4G version is being sold at NT$19,500 (US$665) for the 16GB model, NT$22,500 (US$765) for the 32GB model and NT$25,500 (US$870) for the 64GB model.

Both Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile are offering various 3G service rate plans at lower prices for each model.

Taiwan's leading carrier Chunghwa Telecom has not gained distribution rights for the new iPad but is planning to offer rate plans for iPads purchased at electronics retail stores.

The latest iPad can run on selected 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks in the United States and Canada but the high-speed data transmission service does not extend to Taiwan because there are as yet no LTE operators in the country.