iPad 2 may come to India in April?

BANGALORE, INDIA: Apple iPad 2 is up for sale in the US from today and indicators are that an announcement on India launch may be made by March end or April.

Apple has already announced the world launch of iPad 2 on March 25. Though two dozen countries are included in the world launch, the list does not include India.

 A senior manager with a leading Apple partner company, who did not want to be identified, said he had been told to expect an announcement in just two weeks' time. Though Apple has not confirmed any date for India launch, informal inquiries with Apple partners reveal that Apple may be working on an early launch date.

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According to sources, Apple partners, who were anxious to know when iPad 2 would be launched in India, were told during the partners meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday that Apple was indeed working on a release date.

One more strong indicator that Apple is serious about the Indian market is that it has started promoting iPad 2 on their Indian website. But an Apple partner sought to downplay the rumors surrounding the new iPad launch saying that the promotion of new product cannot be considered as an indicator of an early launch. Apple never makes an early announcement of any launch. That is how it operates, he added.

Also read: Analysts laud Apple's iPad 2

However, an Apple product manager with a partner company who claimed to have knowledge about recent Apple partners' meeting said that iPad 2 launch figured prominently at the meeting and most partners wanted to know about the new iPad launch in India and also urged the Apple's management to intimate them about the launch in advance so that they draw up appropriate sales strategies.

The source said that the Apple partners did tell the Apple management that were unhappy about how the iPad 1 was launched in India last December. Though iPad 1 was launched in India about 10 months after the US launch, the announcement on availability in India market was made just one day before the launch.

The Apple partners are also said to have expressed concern over the lack of iPad 1 supplies in India, during the same meeting.

The list of countries where iPad 2 will be released on March 25 include; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK.

Also read: How Apple's iPad 2 compares to iPad 1 and rivals