CHRISTMAS is just a week away which means – if you haven’t done so already – you can no longer avoid the crowds of shoppers on the high street.
Wherever you choose to shop, you are sure to encounter this year’s must have gadget: the tablet computer.
Coming in a range of shapes and sizes, from a little larger than a pocketbook to almost A4 size, these nifty slate-like devices have a bewildering array of tricks up their sleeves, from games and web browsing to communications, e-books and films.
And whether you love them or hate them – Apple are clearly the market leaders in Cyprus with the second edition of their iconic iPad.
“Worldwide, Apple have about 66 per cent of the tablet market share, but in Greece it is about 80 to 20, and in Cyprus Apple might even have a 90 per cent share of the tablet market,” Public’s commercial manager in Cyprus, Demetrios Tsamakliotis told the Sunday Mail.
This Christmas the trend is continuing, with iPad 2s flying off the shelves of many electronics stores.
Cyprus has only one official importer: Greek distributor iSquare – supplying the island’s iPads and accessories.
“We are very happy that iPad sales are growing in a phenomenal pace in Cyprus as well in Greece and so far we are seeing a tremendous demand that we were trying hard to satisfy,” said iSquare’s Efi Kontouli.
“We feel that we are well prepared, since we have a strong availability of all models of iPads, so we are confident that we will be able to satisfy the big holiday demand.”
You may have to shop around to find the exact model you want, however, as only three of MTN’s eight Nicosia stores have iPads, and other stores such as Public and Stefanis are seeing a high turnover – even selling out of certain models. All of the stores surveyed by the Sunday Mail were confident that they would not run out before Christmas.
The most popular model according to one Stefanis sales assistant is the black 16 Gigabyte WiFi model, although another said it depends on whom the iPad is being bought for:
“Usually people buy the black for boys and white for girls, and if it is for teenagers people go for the 16 GB Wifi.”
Businessmen, on the other hand, are more interested in spending a bit more for extra memory and 3G capability, which lets them access the internet wherever there is phone coverage. (Wifi only connects to the internet through a nearby internet wifi station).
Unusually for Cyprus the price of the iPad 2 is not much more than in other European countries such as the UK, although UK prices are roughly 25 per cent higher than the United States.
The UK Apple store’s iPad 2 prices range from GBP 400 (€469) to GBP659 (€772), in Cyprus they start at €495 for the cheapest model and €835 for the most expensive.
If these are beyond the Christmas budget, but you still want to buy a tablet for the techie in your life, there are several cheaper alternatives on the market in Cyprus, coming in various shapes, sizes and tech-specs. Some can even match the iPad 2’s specs if not its popularity.
The main contenders you are likely to find on the high street are the Motorola Xoom (€649), Samsung galaxy tab (€599), Archos 70 (€259), Asus TF101 (€459), HTC Flyer (€540), Prestigio Multipad (€179) and Blackberry Playbook (€599).
The Samsung Galaxy tab, for example, is lighter and only slightly thicker than the iPad 2, and offers a 3 megapixel back facing camera.
If you are buying for somebody else, however, it is well worth asking if they have their sights set on a particular brand or model. With several recently launched iPad rivals yet to reach Cyprus, such as the Kindle Fire (which has proved a massive seller in the US), Asus Eepad Transformer and Sony S, it could be worth holding out until the new year.
The Transformer is worth a special mention, as it is almost as light as the iPad, offers a microSD and Micro-HDMI support and has an 8-megapixel camera.
