Apple's latest iPad available on UAE grey market - at a price

Newest version of the iPad features more memory, a better screen and 4G connectivity, but consumers in the Emirates should be prepared to pay more.

Apple fans in the UAE are willing to pay twice the price for the latest iPad, currently only available in the grey market. Delores Johnson / The National

DUBAI // Gadget fans have paid nearly double the price rather than wait only a week for Apple's latest iPad.

The 128GB version of the tablet computer is on sale in Apple’s UAE online store for Dh3,199, and ships in between five and seven business days.

The grey-market retailer ALShop.com has sold 15 of the new iPads at Dh6,000, a premium of Dh2,800, and they will be delivered to customers tonight.

The company ordered the new tablets for “premium customers”, and they arrived yesterday.

“They are going to our high-profile customers, and they will get it 9pm tonight,” said Sheriff Rizwan, Alshop’s chief executive.

“They always place orders and they get it on the same day as the global launch.”

The shop has ordered a further 150 tablets that will dispatch tomorrow at a price of Dh4,099, a premium of Dh900. The website is accepting orders for both black and white versions of the tablet.

In Apple’s United States online store the iPad 128GB costs $799, or Dh2,935, and in the UK the price is £639, or Dh3,813.