Apple Already Sold Out of Initial White iPad Mini Pre-Order Stock

[MacRumors]

Apple started pre-orders for the iPad mini and 4th Generation iPad early this morning at 3AM Eastern / 12AM Pacific. As noted in our forums, the initial stock of White iPad minis sold out quickly in the U.S. Within the first 17 minutes, ship dates for the white iPad mini slipped to 2 weeks from the original "Delivers 11/2". The black Wi-Fi iPad mini remains available for delivery by November 2nd.

Of course, its hard to tell how much of the stock out is related to high demand vs. low supply. We suspect stocks may have been low as others have noted that countries outside the U.S. listed "2 week" delivery times from the first moment the white iPad minis went on sale.

As typical, Apple will also offer the iPad mini in retail stores on launch day. Apple keeps a sizable stock of devices to be available on the official launch day of products. The Wi-Fi iPad mini will be available in retail stores starting on November 2nd. Meanwhile, the cellular version is promised by mid-November.

Article Link: Apple Already Sold Out of Initial White iPad Mini Pre-Order Stock

[Veinticinco]

And yet I'll still be able to casually saunter into an Apple Store on Nov 2, not queue and pick one up as if I'm buying a loaf of bread.

[coredev]

Originally Posted by Veinticinco

And yet I'll still be able to casually saunter into an Apple Store on Nov 2, not queue and pick one up as if I'm buying a loaf of bread.

My guess is that this very much depends on which Apple Store you will be sauntering into on Nov 2.

[cambookpro]

Seems like there are plenty of black ones left though. Definitely not as big a launch as the iP5, even if they have more stock.

[0815]

wow, that was fast .... but than, I think they never made any iPhone/iPad available in so many countries at once.

Anyway, it will be a big success - no matter how many people predict it to fail.

[needfx]

oversell the underproduction!

great story man!

[appleguy123]

This was the risk of releasing it so close to the holidays. It was a bit short-sided, IMO to release a new product at this time.

I definitely see this happening:

Dad:What do you want for Christmas, Johnny?
Johnny: An iPad! I'll use it to help me with my school work and make reminders so I never forget to do my chores!
Dad: Let me ask your mom. (They agree)

3 weeks before Christmas
Wife: The iPad mini does all the things the iPad does and is a lot cheaper! Let's go to the store and get one of those for Johnny and his sister!

Drives to best buy
Clerk: I'm sorry ma'am we're sold out. But we do have stock of the 7" Tablet from X which is $130 cheaper!
Parents relieved.

No iPad is bought because Apple can't keep up with supply.

I don't know why they can never make enough. Secrecy is already out the window, so there's presumably no disadvantage to ramping up production early to make enough.

[nfl46]

This is what Apple is thinking: We didn't even have to price it at lower than $300 for it to sell out in 17 minutes. We win!

Lol. I sold my iPad 3 and got one in black. This screen better not be too pixelated. 😢

[Lindsford]

Originally Posted by nfl46

This is what Apple is thinking: We didn't even have to price it at lower than $300 for it to sell out in 17 minutes. We win!

Lol. I sold my iPad 3 and got one in black. This screen better not be too pixelated. 😢

The iPad 2 screen still looks good to me from a distance. I can only tell it's "inferior" because I'm spoiled with retina. I think 1024x768 will look decent enough on this screen. Retina will look even better next year...or in 6 months...heh

[Gingeronie]

Apple only offered the black iPad Mini to begin with. The white iPad mini was always set to be available in mid November.

[Lindsford]

Originally Posted by Gingeronie

Apple only offered the black iPad Mini to begin with. The white iPad mini was always set to be available in mid November.

Do we have another case of the elusive White iPhone 4?

[Deako]

Lucky the USA managed to order whites at all. There NONE for the rest of the world.

[smiddlehurst]

Originally Posted by appleguy123

No iPad is bought because Apple can't keep up with supply.

I don't know why they can never make enough. Secrecy is already out the window, so there's presumably no disadvantage to ramping up production early to make enough.

Seriously? You don't know why Apple can't magically manufacture enough units to meet initial launch demand? Leaving aside all the practical problems (component supply, overall production capacity of the manufacturer(s), massive amount of inventory sitting in boxes rather than being sold, initial production / process issues etc) they'd likely have to ramp up to a higher production level than they'd need going forward which is incredibly wasteful (not to mention stupid).

Oh and your example has a slight flaw: it assumes that your customers wouldn't pay more for one of the 10" iPads. Certainly your typical best buy employee would be more likely to try and push them to the more expensive purchase...

Someone mentioned it's not as big a launch as the iPhone 5 but surely that's to be expected. This is a new product after all and you just don't launch a new product with the sort of production volumes you do for an established product that dominates its market.

[0815]

Originally Posted by Deako

Lucky the USA managed to order whites at all. There NONE for the rest of the world.

too bad I did not know this when I ordered mine (in black) at 3:01am EST ... I also would have ordered an additional white one (limit is 2 orders per account) and sold on ebay for fortune .

[CmdrLaForge]

Cool, I ordered my 32 gig white WiFi 9 minutes after sales started. Only get it in two weeks here in Germany... so no stock for me. Btw - I sold my 3rd gen iPad for this. Main driver for me is actually the weight. The new one is soooo much lighter. Looking forward to it.

[danielowenuk]

Order 2 white in the uk 9 minutes after pre-order started (8:09am), 2 weeks delivery.

[Gingeronie]

Originally Posted by Lindsford

Do we have another case of the elusive White iPhone 4?

Ha! Some things we can't forget. Good call.

[AFDoc]

Originally Posted by 0815

too bad I did not know this when I ordered mine (in black) at 3:01am EST ... I also would have ordered an additional white one (limit is 2 orders per account) and sold on ebay for fortune .

I put my 16g white mini on the bay a few minutes ago for $600 bin or best offer. I suspect with the whites being sold out in 2 hours it should fetch that.

[MMOTotal]

What happened to "this is too expensive, buying a Nexus 7 instead"

[Xiroteus]

Not really surprised, the smaller size alone is drawing a lot of people in regardless of any issues.

[rei101]

Apple never ran out of anything while Steve was there.

On the other hand, they have changed the size of every product already. Now, where is the innovation again?

[0815]

Originally Posted by rei101

Apple never ran out of anything while Steve was there.

Really??? And you are from which parallel universe?

[coredev]

Originally Posted by rei101

Apple never ran out of anything while Steve was there.

Not true, and you know it.

[Klae17]

Originally Posted by rei101

Apple never ran out of anything while Steve was there.

On the other hand, they have changed the size of every product already. Now, where is the innovation again?

Jesus Christ. They did run out of product before. They are so sorry that they are more popular than before and can't force more factory workers to work more double shifts.

Retina Macbook 15 and 13, the new iMac, the innovative manufacturing processes, dynamic Lighting cables, developing Thunderbolt with intel, the thin iPod Touches, etc. etc. etc.

You are just complaining to complain. Seems like a Apple Rumor site isn't for you.

[dilgit]

Ordered the iPad 4G with cellular. Order confirmation says delivers on 17 November.