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Tablets Prove Popular Among Holiday Shoppers as Retina iPad Mini Supplies Improve

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Tablets have proven to be the most popular consumer electronics item on buyers' early holiday shopping lists, with a new research note from Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White citing numbers from the Consumer Electronics Association revealing that 39% of shoppers looking for consumer electronics over the Black Friday weekend were planning to purchase a tablet. Supporting that data, both Walmart and Target highlighted iPads as top sellers on Black Friday.

With Apple's new iPad Air and Retina iPad mini having hit the market in recent weeks, Apple is well-positioned to take advantage of the surge in tablet interest, although the company has been struggling hard to ramp up production on the Retina iPad mini to meet holiday shopping demand. White notes that supplies for Apple's retail stores continue to improve, although 64 GB and 128 GB cellular-capable variants remains in tight supply.
Based on our survey across 38 Apple Retail Stores in the U.S. market, all Wi-Fi only models for both the iPad mini with Retina Display and first-generation iPad mini are readily available. Regarding Wi-Fi + Cellular models for the iPad mini with Retina Display, 64GB and 128GB models have very limited stock, while 16GB models are plentiful. For example, 47% of the Apple Retail Stores that we surveyed sold out the iPad mini with Retina Display 128GB models and 42% sold out 64GB models, while only 29% sold out 32GB models and 3% sold out 16GB models.
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The news comes ten days after Apple's retail stores began offering walk-in sales of Retina iPad Mini models, along with a report last week stating that supplies of the tablet are beginning to improve after Apple was reportedly struggling with display yields that limited production.

Overall, in-store availability of Retina iPad mini models has improved markedly for Apple's U.S. retail stores, although availability of Wi-Fi models remains much stronger than for cellular-capable models. Orders placed through Apple's online store are currently being quoted 5-10 business day shipping estimates for all models.

Article Link: Tablets Prove Popular Among Holiday Shoppers as Retina iPad Mini Supplies Improve
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/02/tablets-prove-popular-among-holiday-shoppers-as-retina-ipad-mini-supplies-improve/
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HenryDJP

Suspended
Nov 25, 2012
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LOL, I've been seeing Windows 8 Tablet commercials lately that still can't through the entire ad without mentioning the iPad. Apple keeps rolling along making very nice and classy ads showing the true owner experience and their tablet stays on top.
 
K

Karma*Police

macrumors 68030
Jul 15, 2012
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Target ran out of iPads pretty quickly in my neighborhood. There was a special line for Apple products that snaked around half the store. It was pretty insane.
 
Small White Car

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Aug 29, 2006
10,966
1,463
Washington DC
I ordered a retina Mini online and it said it would ship in "5 - 10 days."

I got the e-mail that it had shipped from China about 18 hours later. (It will be delivered 6.5 days after ordering.)

So it does seem that they're speeding things up.
 
enzo thecat

enzo thecat

macrumors 6502
Apr 7, 2010
311
151
Midwest USA
everything-i said:
Seen a couple myself on the commute into work but they are very rare. Not sure who is buying them but they don't seem to use them out of the house.
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All of the people I know that have them, bought them for their toddlers. Such is the case with us. We ordered 2 for our 4 year old twins.

It sounds expensive until you start looking at the leap-pads, and nintendo DSL and DVD players. The game system games are $20-30. Ipad apps are .99.

e
 
G

Goldex

macrumors member
May 15, 2009
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HenryDJP said:
LOL, I've been seeing Windows 8 Tablet commercials lately that still can't through the entire ad without mentioning the iPad. Apple keeps rolling along making very nice and classy ads showing the true owner experience and their tablet stays on top.
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People always seem to forget that Apple did the exact same thing with their Mac vs. PC commercials.
 
jmgregory1

jmgregory1

macrumors 68030
Jun 24, 2010
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Goldex said:
People always seem to forget that Apple did the exact same thing with their Mac vs. PC commercials.
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Apple didn't point out any specific PC in their Mac vs PC ads. They were panning the overall PC market and the Microsoft OS experience. I'm a firm believer in using attack ads when the product / brand / service you're attacking is 1) deserving of the attack and 2) highlights your product's superiority to the competition.

But Apple commands such a huge lead in brand awareness that for MS to bring up the iPad in an attack ad only helps reinforce the Apple brand.
 
D

didztran

macrumors newbie
Jul 30, 2013
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0
Goldex said:
People always seem to forget that Apple did the exact same thing with their Mac vs. PC commercials.
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If only Microsoft stopped saying you cant have a keyboard with your ipad ! But anyway, I must admit their ad pointing at multi-user is good.
 
Galley

Galley

macrumors 65816
Mar 24, 2008
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22% of Target's sales were Apple products!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/12/01/apples-ipad-a-big-winner-on-black-friday/
 
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everything-i

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2012
827
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London, UK
gnasher729 said:
I think Kindle tablets used solely as ebook readers are quite common.
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Maybe but I haven't seen a single one of those.

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macs4nw said:
Who wants to be caught dead, seen with one of those? :D

But seriously, I still think the MS Surface is a visually striking device, and would definitely consider one, if it didn't run Windows.
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Unfortunately the surface is hindered by a couple of things. Extremely poor marketing and Microsoft's arrogance in believing that their late to market offering was just going to sell like hot cakes because it was, well Microsoft. Its probably a very good bit of kit but all their advertising seems to say is how crap every other tablet is without showing me how theirs is better.
 
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