The Apple iPad – Coming soon to a country near you

May 7, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke

This morning, Apple published a press release on their website announcing the first nine countries in which the iPad will officially be available. Included in the list are the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Italy, and Switzerland. Though the official date of sale isn’t until May 28, 2010, residents in those countries will be able to preorder their iPads online beginning on May 10, 2010.

The list seems rather short considering there are 194 countries (varies by one or two, depending upon your source) in the world. So does that mean no one else in the world will be able to obtain a taste of the latest Apple goodness? No, Apple has plans to expand its iPad footprint in the near future to other countries, as well.

On Apple’s short list are Austria, Hong Kong, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Singapore, and Mexico. These countries are slated to be able to purchase the device in July. No details were provided by Apple regarding pricing in these countries or the date on which preordering will be available. Additionally, no mention was made in the press release regarding whether preorder sales would include WiFi models, 3G models, or both.

Apple also took advantage of the opportunity to remind both the industry and consumers of the success the iPad has achieved in the first month of its U.S. availability. Sales figures show that more than a million iPads have been sold. Consumers who have jumped on the iPad bandwagon have downloaded more than 12-million apps from the Apple iTunes Store and more than 1.5-million electronic books, from Apple’s newly-established iBookstore.

Source: iPad Available in Nine More Countries on May 28