Shortly after the official launch of the much anticipated Apple Ipad, a survey was published which showed that consumer interest in the new device declined. The survey (commissioned by the website, “retrevo”), implied that once consumers had seen what the Ipad really looked like and what it was capable of at the official launch, rather than reacting to hearsay and rumour on the web, they were less impressed. The proportion of US consumers (based on 1,000 shoppers) who were not interested in buying the Ipad increased from 26 per cent before the official launch to 52 per cent in the days after the launch. The proportion of consumers indicating they would definitely buy an Ipad increased from 3 per cent to 5 per cent. The number of people who were undecided about buying remained stable, increasing by just 1 per cent to 19 per cent after the launch. The Daily Telegraph covers the survey in more detail [see article]
Of course, its possible to argue that until consumers see other people around them clutching the new device, and until they are clear about what the costs of buying it are, and the ongoing data network costs (for the 3g model), consumers will remain non committal.
Redshift ran its own poll via its Crowdology panel in the first week of February 2010, but it focused just on men in the UK. Some 8 per cent didn’t know what the Ipad is, and another 2 per cent said they would leap in whatever the price! A larger group, of 29 per cent, were non committal, wanting to see more of the device. But some 46 per cent were not interested in buying, which is significantly lower than the 52 per cent of men and women in the US poll. The younger male (18-25) are far less likely to reject the Ipad out of hand (19 per cent versus 46% for all men), while men over 59 are far less taken with the need for an Ipad (59 per cent indicated they wouldn’t buy).
Our poll, however, suggests a much higher level of interest in the Ipad. We saw that 2 per cent would buy at any price – the real Apple fans and early adopters. But if we add in those indicating a purchase intention between under £200 and £500, the proportion of interested buyers increases to 16 per cent. Of course, at the moment Apple have not announced pricing plans in the UK, nor confirmed which retailers or mobile phone companies it will partner with. This is very difficult to speculate, although Shane Richmond, Head of Technology (Editorial) for Telegraph Media Group, estimated (taking into account the exchange rate and likely markup) that the WiFi version of the iPad could be £383 (16GB), £460 (32GB) and £535 (64GB). He estimated the WiFi + 3G model could be £482 (16GB), £559 (32GB) and £636 (64GB).
These prices are outside the price range we tested. If these prices prove accurate, the likely take up, at least in the early days and before further discount deals are available, would be far below 16 per cent. In our sample, 2 per cent would buy if the Ipad was priced under £400 and another 3 per cent would buy if it were priced under £500. So together with the buy at any price group, our poll estimates a total of 7% of men would be likely to buy the Ipad in the near future.
Of course, Shane Richmond makes the point that if prices of the Ipad were based on exchange rates, without a mark up to offset VAT and supposed higher costs of retailing in the UK, the prices would be closer to £152 (16GB), £234 (32 GB) and £306 (64GB) in the UK Apple Store. That would be interesting. Our poll indicates that if all the WiFi models are under £500 up to 16% of men in the UK would give serious consideration to buying one.