It’s more than just a little annoying that the only thing known about an iPad in Europe is that it is due to launch in ‘late April’ for an ‘unbelievable price.’ That’s the stable Euro/$ for you!

One can assume that a 1:1 dollar to Euro conversion is going to be in the right ball-park though and I’ve even found one retailer already taking pre-orders. 3GStore.de (info via Blogeee) appears to be a big site with a solid history and it’s offering the base iPad for 549 Euro. The high-end model clocks in at 879 Euro. I’m guessing that they’ve thrown 50 Euros onto the estimated retail price and are simply taking a risk by being first. SEO value + increased margin = Smart move!

At 499 Euro inclusive 19% local taxes (543 dollars before tax) it’s not cheap -the same cost as an unlocked HTC Desire. How will this fit with the easy-going EU public?

As we mentioned on the Meet:Mobility podcast this week, we don’t see the penetration being anything like what it is in the U.S. Based on my experience with resellers and affiliate schemes, EU conversions run way way below that what you’ll see in the U.S. I’m estimating about 20% of the penetration seen in the U.S. Assuming Apple sold 500,000 in one week among a population of 300 million in the U.S., I wouldn’t expect anything more than 100,000 sales in the first week across the Euro-zone which has a similar population.

If you’re in the EU, how are you feeling about a 500 Euro price tag?