Majority of the UK consumers are not ready to pay £400 for an Apple iPad, according to a latest research report from UK broadband comparison site Broadband Genie.

The company has polled more than 1,300 visitors to its site, of which 60 per cent said the iPad was 'definitely not' worth £400 or more while 20 percent saying it wasn't really worth the price tag, putting the total thinking it was poor value up to 80 per cent.

This will not be good news for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which is being released with similar price points in the run-up to Christmas.

“There's a clear message here from British consumers - while they like the idea of a tablet, they aren't willing to pay through the nose for one,” said Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling.

Over time, the tablet is likely become a standard gadget in the majority of UK households. Essentially right now they bring nothing new to the party, so are very much a luxury - especially in this price bracket,” he added.

The report shows two likely scenarios: First potential customers will wait to see how much mobile networks are willing to subsidise these top end tablets via 3G SIM contracts as ereaders, smartphones, netbooks and even laptops are now available for a fraction of iPad's price.

Secondly, the customers will balance this against the quality of the cheaper models that are now arriving and make a decision accordingly as cheaper tablet models are already appearing, some running on the popular Android OS.

All considered British consumers simply won't pay ludicrous prices for this kind of technology, even if it does come branded with the Apple logo, the report says.

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