IPad 2? Sure. But Most Of You Are Waiting For iPad 50 Percent Off
Yes, front and back cameras should be nice. And if the iPad 2 is a bit slimmer, lighter and faster than the first one? That would be swell, too.
But what people really, really, want out of the new device is a huge price cut.
So says a new survey from Boston Consulting Group, which concludes that consumers would like to pay less than half the price of Apple’s cheapest iPad.
On average, Americans surveyed by BCG are willing to pay between $110 and $200 for a “multipurpose tablet.” Which of course is a whole lot lower than the $499 iPad entry point that Steve Jobs introduced last year, and some 15 million people have found those prices acceptable. So we’re not going to get there quite yet.
But those same consumers who want to pay a whole lot less for a tablet do expect to buy one soonish: At least a third expect to buy a tablet or an e-reader like Amazon’s Kindle within the next year, BCG says. And at least half assume they’ll own one within three years.
Back to the present tense: All Things Digital’s team will be reporting from the iPad 2 unveiling in San Francisco, which kicks off at 1 pm eastern/10 am pacific today. Check back a bit later for a link to live coverage.