Two weeks after the U.S. launch, the iPad 2 will become available in 25 additional countries on Friday, March 25, Apple has announced.
The countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.
Apple’s suggested price for the iPad 2 is the same as the U.S. price. It starts at $499 for the Wi-Fi-only, 16 GB model, and costs $829 for the 64 GB model with Wi-Fi and 3G. However, in reality, the prices in most of the above countries will be somewhat higher than in the U.S.
Apple has also announced that the iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April.
Confirming Piper Jaffray’s numbers, Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore calls it “one of Apple’s most successful product launches to date.”
In a survey of 236 potential buyers, Munster found 70 percent of iPad 2 buyers were new to the iPad. This compared to just 23 percent of iPhone 4 buyers who said the same thing when that product launched in June 2010.
This is significant in that it shows Apple is expanding its base of iPad users, which is critical in its quest to retain the lead in the growing tablet market.
However, at least in the short term, those numbers will only grow so much. For those that don’t own an iPad 2, or ordered one earlier online, you are out of luck. It appears most of the iPad 2 inventories are now exhausted.
Apple has yet to confirm these number
