AT&T seems pretty happy with sales of Apple’s recently refreshed iPad lineup, announcing that sales over the past weekend increased 200% compared with the opening weekend launch last year. The carrier claimed the surge was driven by demand for the latest iPad Air model and “popularity” of the AT&T Mobile Share plans that allow customers to add a tablet device for $10 to share in a bucket of data.
Apple unveiled the latest version of its iPad line last month with the iPad Air taking over the top spot in the lineup. The device, which is slimmer and lighter than previous iPad models, went on sale Nov. 1. The iPad Air starts at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model. Prices go up to $799 and storage goes up to 128GB for the Wi-Fi only tablets. For iPad Air models with cellular connectivity, prices start at $629 before subsidies and go up to $929 before subsidies.
AT&T’s comparison to last year’s launch could be somewhat muted by the fact that the iPad “4” that launched last fall was just a slight update to the New iPad “3” that was unveiled in early 2012. Both of those models were visually similar to the previous iPad 2 device, while the latest iPad Air is substantially different in appearance, size and weight. In fact, Apple dropped the “3” and “4” versions of the iPad lineup with the launch of the iPad Air and has kept the iPad 2 around as the entry-level device for its bigger-screened iPad lineup.
AT&T could also be looking to garner some of the headlines scored by smaller rival T-Mobile US, which began offering the iPad lineup for the first time with the latest iteration of the device. T-Mobile US announced the addition as part of its “Un-carrier 3.0” initiative that adds tablet devices to its previously announced device payment model. Along with the ability to pay for a device over a 24-month period, T-Mobile US also said that customers that purchase a tablet or bring a tablet to the carrier will receive 200 megabytes of data over the carrier’s LTE network for free each month. However, T-Mobile US has had to clean up that launch a bit as CNet noted that some customers were required to pay a monthly fee in order to receive the “free” data service.
AT&T reported last month that beginning Oct. 25 all new customers will be required to sign up for rate plans that include data services that can be shared across multiple devices.
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