Research from Broadbandgenie.co.uk has shown that most UK consumers will not pay £400 for an iPad, despite the allure of the device.

In a poll of more than 1,300 visitors to the broadband, mobile broadband  and smartphone comparison site, more than 60 per cent said the iPad was “definitely not” worth £400 or more, while another 20 per cent said it “wasnt really” worth the price tag.  

“Theres a clear message here from British consumers,” says Broadband Genie editor, Chris Marling. “While they like the idea of a tablet, they arent willing to pay through the nose for one. With ereaders, smartphones, netbooks and even laptops now available for a fraction of that price, its a tough ask for people to see the value in a tablet costing up to £700. And with cheaper tablet models already appearing, some running on the popular Android OS, its easy to see why.”

Marlin adds that in time, the tablet is likely become a standard gadget in the majority of UK households, but says that right now, they bring nothing new to the party, so are very much a luxury,  especially at current prices.

“We see two likely scenarios,” says Marling. “Firstly, potential customers will wait to see how much mobile networks are willing to subsidise these top-end tablets via 3G SIM contracts. Secondly, they will balance this against the quality of the cheaper models that are now arriving, and make a decision accordingly. British consumers are a wily bunch, especially when it comes to mobile broadband devices. On the whole, they simply wont pay ludicrous prices for this kind of technology, even if it does come branded with the Apple logo.”