iPad International Sales in Japan and Australia iPad Global Frenzy

The iPad craze has gone international. Today we saw the iPad international debut, Japan and Australia iPad sales surge. Whether contrived or not the iPad sales have been sated by pent up demand. There have been over one million iPads sold in America since it debuted on April 3. iPad has beaten the most optimistic sales targets. In this day of European economic contagion and the global economic crisis that is no small feat. For a product that skeptics thought if you had an iPhone or laptop there was no spot for it.

The international debut was delayed because of the massive US demand and international preorders. iPad is everywhere on TV and in the newspapers in Japan and Australia. The 'Australian' newspaper had a 4-page advertising spread. Advertising the iPad with The Australian and Wall Street Journal (both News Corporation newspapers). The much-hyped iPad International debut, Japan and Australia iPad sales suggest Apple will be milking the iPad craze for a while yet!

Later today the iPad will also go on sale in European countries Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and the UK. Following those store openings will be Canada. With all the noise about Europe’s financial crisis these sales will be interesting. It will be interesting if the Apple shops will be met with the same fervor as in Australia and Japan iPad sales.

In Japan the focus was on Apple's flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. It was reported that over 1,200 people were queued up at 8 a.m. when the stores opened. The cheapest iPad, the WiFi-capability model with 16 gigabytes of memory sells for 48,800 yen (US $535) in Japan. This compares to US$499 back in America. Softbank Japan's No.3 mobile phone operator exclusively provides 3G networks for iPad.

Japanese Content

Like News Corporation in Australia and America Japan's top advertising firm Dentsu Inc plans to distribute content in Japan. Dentsu has an online bookstore, which already distributes magazines to smart phones including the iPhone.

Apple just passed Microsoft as the large tech company market capitalization. To achieve that Apple has gained internationally with nearly 60 % of its revenue from offshore. While there has been some bootleg iPad problems in China, there has been exponential growth in Asia.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets see iPad's total global shipments l reaching 8.13 million units worldwide by the end of 2010. Whilst Apple is a champion at building hype they do not provide iPad sales forecasts. RBC estimates 476,000 iPads will be shipped to Japan this year. An overwhelmed Apple suspended taking pre-orders of the iPad after only three days due to the supply shortage.

Analysts see as the biggest risk being able to meet the demand for the iPad tablet. This already has been a problem with the delayed international rollout. This is important given the quick obsolete nature of consumer electronics. Competition for the iPad tablet is set to explode with number of choices coming on the market soon.

Competitors

• Dell Streak tablet computer, which also has a mobile phone and front-facing camera, designed for videoconferencing. Streak was released three days ago.
• Sony Corp has said it will launch an e-reader in Japan by the end of the year.

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves, says 'It's a little bit hard to say because there's still going to be supply constraint, but I'm expecting them to sell every single thing they can ship'. The iPad International Debut is living up to the hype as Japan and Australia iPad sales power along. Who said there are economic problems in the world?