The Apple iPad 2 tablet has been welcomed by Maltese users following its official launch at the end of July. Though the iPad had been available in Malta beforehand from independent retailers, there was no official support from Apple through Maltese representation.

“iPad 2 sales are very positive and although Apple officially announced its availability for the Maltese market only at the end of July, which is generally a slower period for business, the reaction from customers has been encouraging,” according to Adrian Micallef, the general manager of iCentre, Apple’s authorised service provider in Malta.

“This augurs well for the months to come now and also means that being the only Apple authorised service provider, we can offer a complete service to all Apple products customers, including the iPad.”

Both Vodafone and Go shared with this newspaper their satisfaction at the reaction of the Maltese market to the launch of the iPad 2 locally.

Vodafone is the only mobile carrier in Malta officially partnered with Apple to provide support services for the Apple iPhone.

“Maltese customers have been very receptive to the official launch of Apple iPad 2 in Malta. The price point of the best seller is €650 for a 3G 16GB model (including one month free internet). We already have several hundred iPads on our network which offers the best upload and download speeds on the Islands as confirmed by the latest P3 results,” Alexandre Froment Curtil, head of marketing at Vodafone, told iTech.

Luana Vella, indirect sales and devices manager at Go said: “We were very pleasantly surprised by the positive response to the launch of the iPad2 – although Apple products always generate a lot of hyp....And the products live up to the hype!”

While she admitted that demand did outstrip supply at one point, Go’s recently-announced multimillion investment in its mobile network means the company will be able to provide the speeds required to support such devices, meeting not only current demand but the sharp increase it is anticipating in the future.

“The iPad2 is a very different concept to a phone or a laptop. Even though it does not offer voice, it is an excellent alternative to a laptop, especially for those people who are on the move a lot of the time, particularly because it is so much lighter. It is also easier for users to read PDF documents, to play games, to watch videos, to browse the internet and even to use internet-based chat,” added Ms Vella.

The iPad is the global leader in the tablet market with a 68 per cent market share, after single-handedly creating a new market that did not even exist two years ago. However other manufacturers soon realised the potential benefits of this new wave and have launched their own tablets to counter Apple’s dominance. Most of these tablets are based on Google’s Android mobile operating system.

These Android-based tablets are also available locally from Go, Vodafone and other retails stores.

“Customers are increasingly visiting our stores, particularly the Valletta and the Birkirkara outlets to try out our vast range of tablets which is a sure sign that tablets are going to be an increasing trend on the Maltese Islands,” confirmed Vodafone’s head of marketing.

i-Tech first reviewed the iPad a year ago, a few months after Apple launched the first version. Some retailers in Malta immediately saw the potential and started selling the model but at a premium and without official Apple support. The iPad 2, the model currently on sale sports a dual-core processor 1Gh processor, a 9.7-inch capacitive multi-touch touchscreen, 16/32/64 GB of storage, two cameras, WiFi and 3G connectivity in some models and Bluetooth. It is thinner and more powerful than its predecessor, the first model launched in early 2010.

All iPads will get the new version of the operation system, iOS5, in the next few weeks.

Apple is trying to fend off any serious competition. Indeed the American company has managed to secure a court ban on the sales of Samsung’s Galaxy tablet in Europe, which Apple claims is a copy of the iPad. This summer HP launched its 10-inch TouchPad tablet, based on the webOS operating system, only to announce it will no longer support it just seven weeks after the launch.

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