Could iPad prices drop the way the iPhone did after launch?
Looks like they might. That's the opinion of a note out last night from Credit Suisse quoting meetings with Apple executives. The Wall Street Journal this morning quotes Senior Analyst Bill Shope as saying "While it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated)."
This is a similar situation to the original iPhone launch in 2007, where the original price quickly dropped US $200 from the original $599 retail. Agitated early adopters got a $100 Apple store credit from Apple.
Apple will be watching sales of the device carefully in the early days, and the company appears to have enough margin built into the iPad to take some hits if it is slow moving.
On the other hand, if the iPad blows the doors off Apple stores in sales, don't expect any discounts soon.
