Starting last week Friday South Africans were finally able to purchase Apple’s iPad locally . Incredible Connection, one of the local retailers (along with Apple Premium Resellers and Dion Wired) selling the iPad, has now announced that 70% of its iPad stock has been sold out in just three days.

 

By far the most popular are the upper-range 3G models, generating 85% of sales.

 

 “Demand for the iPad globally has been so huge that production simply hasn’t been able to keep up, causing delays in release of the iPad in South Africa as well as limiting the amount of stock made available now,” said Incredible Connection CEO, Dave Miller. “Also, there are very few factories around the world that can make the high quality touch screens that are the defining component of tablet devices. So, globally, demand for the iPad is far outstripping supply,” he continued. 

 

There’s a feeling that Apple waited to long to release the iPad in South Africa, with the announcement coming a year after the iPad was initially launched. With talk of the iPad 2 on its way, some believed that the original iPad might not sell that well. But Miller states that “a lot” of South Africa will not wait for the new model. “What matters is that they can get their hands on an iPad of whatever sort right now!”, he said. 

 

According to Incredible Connection, Apple doesn’t allow iPads to be bundled with any type of long term connectivity contract as is often the case with cellphones. Users, however, can still employ their existing connectivity contracts, pre-paid facilities, or separate data bundles, to connect their iPads to the internet.

 

Local Apple distributor, Core Group, has made it clear that iPads which haven’t been purchased in South Africa at an authorised reseller, will not be supported by Core or any of its authorised repair agents.