Today Apple announced Australian pricing for the upcoming iPad 2, and kicked another goal. The new iPad 2 models will be cheaper than their precursor by a fair margin. This price drop not only cements the iPad as the only device of its kind and wipes out all potential competition, it also slaps in the face the various naysayers in the IT media in this country.

The base model WiFi iPad 2 with 16GB storage is down to $579.00, down 8% from the original iPad. At this sub-$600 price point, many consumers who have held off buying an iPad will probably take the plunge on March 25. Across all models, the price drop is just shy of 9% – a remarkable achievement by Apple. The top of the line 64GB WiFi+3G model has broken the $1,000 psychological barrier at $949.00.

The main talking point amongst Apple detractors in various IT publications and websites has always been the difference between the US and Australian pricing. Each time Apple releases a product, the usual suspects jump on the supposed pricing disparity whilst completely ignoring the pricing of other computer and IT hardware also available. The iPad 2 pricing shows that Apple can do what no other international IT or software company has ever done – slashed the pricing on a new product to comparative levels lower than US pricing.

New Apple iPad 2 pricing – available March 25