Apple sees another success in iPad 3

Apple Inc‘s newest iPad looked like another hot seller on Friday as hundreds lined up at stores around the world to get their hands on the tablet, though the crowds and waiting times in some cities were less than in previous years.

The third-generation iPad has only a few new features including faster wireless connectivity and a crisper display, but analysts nonetheless expect Apple to dominate the tablet market well into next year. The buzz helped propel Apple shares to touch a record high of $600 on the NASDAQ on Thursday, though they later erased gains and were trading at around $585 on Friday afternoon.

The new iPad - Apple has refrained from calling it iPad 3, has faster chips, fourth-generation wireless, a sharper display and a better camera, making it harder for competitors like Samsung’s Galaxy, which also lack Apple‘s range of apps and content, to catch up.

On price, too, Apple’s rivals will struggle to beat it. The new iPad starts at $499 in the United States, $630 in Germany and $510 in Japan. Only Amazon Inc‘s far more basic Kindle Fire is significantly cheaper.

Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2, but has dropped its price by $100 to start at $399. Some analysts expect sales of the new iPad to overtake the old. So far, the company has sold 55 million tablets since the first iPad was launched in 2010.

(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com