iPad now available in the Philippines

After an eight month wait, the iPad is finally available for purchase in the Philippines. The popular tablet device now appears on Apple's Philippines website and should be on the shelves of Apple resellers in the island chain. Pricing for the iPad is slightly more expensive than the U.S. with the base 16 GB WiFi model available for PHP23,990 (US$549) and the 3G-enabled 16 GB model starting at PHP30,990 (US$705).

Apple was particularly slow in getting this tablet into the hands of the Filipino people. The iPad took almost a year since its announcement to finally debut, while the iPhone 4 debuted in September, a relatively short three months after its official announcement. I wonder if Filipino customers are overjoyed to finally buy the iPad locally or if public sentiment towards the tablet is tarnished by this long rollout cycle?

This continued rollout is a testament to the popularity of Apple's tablet device. Rather than cut back on distribution of a product that is late in its development cycle, Apple continues to push out the tablet device. Here in the U.S., retail distribution channels have skyrocketed and the iPad is now available from Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Verizon Wireless, and Sam's Club. Of course, Apple may also be using these new retail channels to move current inventory as it prepares to possibly announce and launch the iPad 2 early next year.

Thanks to Ppip for sending this in!

[Via Yugatech]