3rd UPDATE: Apple iPads To Feature On Qantas Unit Planes

Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad media tablet will soon be offered by Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) to passengers on its Jetstar unit's flights as the U.S. electronics giant eyes fresh opportunities with corporate customers like the Australian carrier.

"We're in the final stages of putting in place what would be a broader roll out across the network," a Jetstar spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires on Monday. "We're in ongoing discussion with the manufacturer around a more integrated network proposition."

In-flight entertainment could provide a new revenue stream for Apple and rival media tablet makers such as Samsung Group, which recently launched its Galaxy Tab hand-held unit to compete with the iPad and Research In Motion Ltd.'s new Playbook. Gartner Inc. expects media tablet sales to reach 19.5 million units this year and to nearly triple by 2011. In the U.S. AT&T Inc. plans to offer iPad WiFi and 3G models directly to businesses with a discounted wireless data pricing plan in effort to drive corporate business for the device.

A spokeswoman for Apple in Australia declined to comment.

The Cupertino, Calif-based company will announce fourth-quarter results later Monday, with the computer maker closing the gap on oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. as the largest listed company in the U.S. Analysts on average expect earnings for Apple's fiscal fourth quarter to rise 46.2%, compared with earnings a year ago adjusted for an accounting change, to $4.05 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Earlier this year, Apple said half of Fortune 100 companies currently support or are testing iPads. The iPad, which analysts expect to have sold 4.7 million units during the September quarter, will be made available to passengers on domestic and long-haul Jetstar flights after the device was successfully tested earlier this year, the spokesman added.

During trials of iPads in June, passengers paid A$10 to use each iPad device on flights after verifying their identification with staff. Jetstar had said that it may roll the devices out "later in the year". A Jetstar spokeswoman on Monday declined to specify the launch date.

A Qantas spokesman said the airline has no plans to use iPads across its network, adding that its international aircraft already have individual seat back video screens. All new domestic aircraft are also being delivered with in-seat systems, he said.

Australia's second biggest carrier Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. (VBA.AU) already has seat back video screens on its aircraft and said it has no plans to use media tablets.

(Andrew Critchlow in Sydney contributed to this article.)

-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4692; [e-mail]