Apple iPad the Touch Screen Computer is going to be shipped to US Customers in April 2010 and following this Apple is going to launch the iPad Internationally. Hence, this means that this useful Tablet Computer won’t be available to the Indians yet, but here is a excellent option for all the consumers who are looking to buy a iPad before its officially launched all over the world. Previously chetan had written a article here on Apple iPad in India, saying that it has got no future and it sucks along with few important points in it. The following tutorial is useful for buyers from India, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK who are looking to buy the Wi-Fi model which can be used anywhere in the World.
I had a telephonic conversation with a Apple India Store Manager, who gave me a estimation that if the Government of India approves the sale of these gadgets under their regulations, it would be available for sale from the month of April 2010 at a price range somewhere between 35,000Rs to 40,000Rs which is quite a hefty amount considering that the models start at 499$, while many blogs are estimating that the price would be somewhere around 25,000Rs which is quite wrong. Now you need to read below why the pricing is so high in India and why its worth the wait.
India has always been the last country most companies try to sell their products, you would seen the case of Apple iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid, Nokia N900 & Nexus One where in still Indians are waiting for the gadgets while the other side of the world is advancing towards latest products and India is dumped with stock when the product is almost discontinued.
Apple iPad US Pricing Details :
Model | 16 Gb | 32 Gb | 64 Gb |
Wi-Fi | $499 | $599 | $699 |
Wi-Fi + 3G | $629 | $729 | $829 |
Along with this the Apple iPad gets charged with Local Sales Taxes or VAT which range from 7-16% based on the location. Apple offers you with 3 different modes of shipping which is Store Pickup, Free Standard Shipping or else the 12$ Express Delivery which is claimed to deliver the ipad 2-3 ahead than standard shipment option. If you prefer to buy the 32Gb Wifi iPad then it would cost you 599$ + Taxes + 12$ = ~700$ which when converted to Indian Rupees would be in the range of around 35,000Rs.
The best option to get started in ordering is first ordering the iPad using a US Credit Card & a US Shipping Address, following which you can ship the product from US to India easily using different services.
- Paying Using US Credit Card : This is the first and foremost step, because Apple US Store won’t accept your normal Credit Cards, hence you need to get a temporary US Credit Card using which you can process the payment and order the iPad from the US Store. There is a website service called US Unlocked which offers you with Pre-Paid Virtual Discover Debit Card at a fees of 10$. Then you need to Load you card with the desired load amount and the card would be credited with the same, during this process there would be ID & address verification process. Next you can use the virtual card data during check-out at the Apple Store to pay for your goods.
- Ship to US Address : Apple would ask you to enter a ‘Shipping Zip’ which is applicable to only US address, hence you cannot ship the Delivery outside the United States. You need to either get this tablet shipped to a known friend or relative and then request them to ship the same to your country, but if you have no one who can do this, you can use Myus which offers you with US shipping address. Fill the shopping basket with US websites like Apple Store, then submit the order at the ‘Ship It’ page and get a US shipping address, which can be used during the check-out at the Apple Store. When they receive your goods at their warehouse, they will determine the shipping cost, after the payment of which would be re-packed and sent to you.
- Ship from US to India : The final step would be shipping the Apple iPad from the warehouse to your Residential or Commercial address in India. This service is offered by Myus which does both receiving the product and shipping to your Location. There are three different types of membership options available like Standard, Premium & Premium + Mail under which the shipping rates differ as shown below. The delivery is done through DHL Express, FedEx Priority & FedEx Air Freight, hence the different rates and time of delivery to different countries.
If you are shipping the Apple iPad after getting a US Credit Card through a friend, you should first check out the price quotes for shipment from different companies like DHL, TNT, USPS, UPS, FedEx etc which have given a approximate price range of 150$ for shipment to India. At the end don’t forget the Customs Duty charges which would be applicable when the shipment arrives in India and this would again be somewhere around 5000Rs [100$] as this is the amount we actually paid for a 16Gb Apple iPad. My final suggestion after calculating all the above costs and headaches would be to wait and watch till April and see if Apple would officially announce the iPad in India and even if the price is in the range of 35000Rs, it would still mean worth the money. We were able to get our Apple iPad as soon as it was launched but had to pay a hefty amount of money for this just to make sure that we were the first in India to own a iPad.
Rahul malik says
Is it a good idea to buy the Ipad now…??
Or should one wait for the next updated versions..
Ravindra Kumar says
you are importing ipad into india and buying from ebay Show Customs tariff heading, Rate of Duty, Licencing conditions, assessable value to calculate customs duty amount ,total landing cost. Further, what will be duty if it is imported for different purpose such as Personal import, gift, commercial use, repair, return and replacement. Also it shows what would be customs rate of duty for ipad if imported through courier, air cargo, sea cargo. Bona-fide Gift upto Rs 10,000/- are without any duty if imported through Courier.
Regards
Ravindra Kumar
iPad owner says
I wanted to brag somewhere. I bought the ipad and landed back in india on 5th. :). Love the device. 🙂
desktop gadgets says
I think the price of the Ipad is to hight so I won’t buy it right now, maybe later if the price dropes.
Nishit says
Have you considered the Notion Ink Adam? It starts to ship to Indian customers today, and initial feedback by unbiased reviewers has been largely positive. It is an innovative tablet that packs a great deal of processing power, two screen options of normal LCD or triple-mode Pixel Qi (a bit like an e-ink screen, sunlight readable but with full motion video and full colour), three USB ports, MicroSD reader, etc.
Of course, without advertising revenues, the Indian media has almost completely ignored it while they continue to push the abysmally bad Olivepad and the overpriced iPad. International tech blogs seem to be hell bent on finding the merest excuse to malign this fine tablet.
Web Host says
So now there is no hassle of importing iPad from USA or other countries as Apple iPad comes to India after there 1 year long gap release in India as that of International launch.
Rakshit Jain says
Do i also need to get country licence to use ipad in India. ? or i need to get it unlocked?