Photo: Apple

A market researcher postulates the Apple tablet will not be a mass market product in the UK. In other news, market researchers do more guesswork than most of us and 73 per cent of all stats are made up.

Niche customer base

Mike Stevens, Director of the Telecoms, Media and Technology team at Simpsons Carpenters, ran this research along four qualitative groups of typical iPad-wielding British consumers. The conclusion? The iPad UK sales will be made to a niche audience.

Justification

In Stevens’ defense, his justification was the iPhone ‘revolutionized an existing category that people understood’ whereas the iPad is trying to create a whole new category, which many people will (initially, at the least) fail to see how it fits into their lives.

It might be

Photo: Apple

We don’t necessarily disagree with him, but rather that we think he’s taking a guess. Educated guess, perhaps, but a guess, no less. Prior to the Apple tablet launching, many market researchers and analysts guessed there wouldn’t be a market for the iPad, and after 1 million units sold 28 days later they are changing their tune. These same market researchers and analysts guessed the Apple tablet sold 700,000 weekend one, when, in fact, it sold under 400,000.

In this regard, it is Mike Stevens’ job to guess (sorry, research and conclude), and technology sites like our own to report on these gue… sorry, this research,

UK Rollout

In terms of hard facts, the iPad UK release, as well as some other countries worldwide, is scheduled for 28 May. Both the Wi-fi only and Wi-fi + 3G Apple tablet versions will be available on day one, with pricing ranging from £429 for the 16GB iPad Wi-fi all the way to £699 for the 64GB iPad Wi-fi + 3G.

Photo: Apple

Americans like the iPad. They like it so much, in fact, that the rest of us won’t be seeing the device until some time in May. Apple cited unexpected US demand as the reason for the delay.

Do you want one?

Since the iPad’s release, everybody and their mother in tech and beyond have debated whether we really need the iPad and where it fits in our computer usage.

Supporters of Apple’s tablet argue that, as a content consumption device, it is superior to virtually everything else available, and that it’s blistering fast as well as a joy to use.

Photo: Apple

Naysayers’ arguments range from dismissive comments like it’s merely a giant iPhone and the hysteria around it is fuelled mostly by Apple fanboys. The more serious debates lodged against it is that Apple’s insistence on keeping the platform closed is to the detriment of the development community, and as a content creation device, the Apple tablet is barely competent. As such, fully-fledged laptops and barebones netbooks are better alternatives.

Stats overload

Ever the statisticians, the Cupertino folk announced they sold over 500,000 of the Apple tablet within its first week of release, with developers putting out over 3,000 apps for the device soon after release. In addition to these stats, Apple snuck in a status update on the iPhone that showed just how big of a deal that device is, with over 50 million sold since release.

Availability

The iPad should hit the UK in May, and through a staggered rollout, reach the rest of Europe, Australia, and other countries worldwide at a later stage. With this delay, it is expected that the wi-fi and 3G iPads should be available day one in Britain and the other regions yet to receive it, unlike in the US where the wi-fi only version was released first, with the 3G release following in April.