New iPad
New iPadCourtesy

More than a month after it was introduced, the iPad 3 – actually, just “iPad,” without the numeration – goes on sale in Israel this Friday. Israelis will thus be able to contribute to the iPad phenomenon, further upping sales of what has turned out to be the fastest selling consumer product in history.

Within 72 hours of its March 16 launch, over 3 million of the devices had been sold, and while Apple hasn't announced current sales totals for the new iPad, reports said that over 55 million of the first two models had been sold through January 2012. According to analyst firm Chitka, the iPad appears to be the most used device in the U.S.

The new iPad is noted for a faster processor than its predecessors, with an A5X dual-core processor, a longer battery life than the iPad 2, and especially for its very high-resolution graphics, the Retina Display with a resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels.

The devices will be sold initially at Cellcom stores and at Apple's sales outlet in Israel, iDigital, and will be rolled out at other outlets later on.

The basic 16GB wifi version will cost NIS 2500 ($675) in Israel, including 16% VAT, while the 64 GB wifi/3G/4G version will cost NIS 5,200 ($1,386). That model, along with the 16GB wifi/3G/4G model (NIS 2,819/$751) will be sold exclusively at Cellcom.

Customers who purchase a cell package for their iPad will get a partial refund on their purchase price.

Cellcom CEO Nir Stern said that the company was very happy that the new iPad had reached Israel. “In the coming years we expect an increase in the use of data on tablets, and we will work to encourage the growth of tablet use, as we did with iPhones.”