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Apple needs to learn....

D

danredwing

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 26, 2007
89
0
Portland OR
...to underpromise and overdeliver.

_____________

Was just looking through my old posts and saw this exact post. It seems applicable again.

"Fast shipping" and "Ships March 11th" would have been here by now, not still sitting in China, not even prepped to ship.

I love Apple products, I really do, but I really hate the way they take advantage of our loyalty and make us play games, like staying up till 1 am, and waiting in stupidly long lines. This should have been easier, with the option to preorder and have delivery on the 11th.

Wish that Apple would realize that though it makes for crazy hype, it doesn't make customers happy. It just feels like an unecessary hassle.
 
They apparently sold twice as many ipads as they anticipated. Hard to plan for that.

danredwing said:
...to underpromise and overdeliver.

_____________

Was just looking through my old posts and saw this exact post. It seems applicable again.

"Fast shipping" and "Ships March 11th" would have been here by now, not still sitting in China, not even prepped to ship.

I love Apple products, I really do, but I really hate the way they take advantage of our loyalty and make us play games, like staying up till 1 am, and waiting in stupidly long lines. This should have been easier, with the option to preorder and have delivery on the 11th.

Wish that Apple would realize that though it makes for crazy hype, it doesn't make customers happy. It just feels like an unecessary hassle.
Click to expand...
 
I get that they sold a ton, but I don't believe for a minute that they didn't anticipate it. Also, the number of iPads that they sell should have no effect on the launch planning. They would have sold out just as fast through better executed channels that didn't leave customers frustrated.

As it stands, the communication is cryptic at best and it appears that they are giving priority to the zoo that is the Apple retail store.

Let me be clear here. Apple can do whatever they like, as it is their product and their launch, but as a loyal customer, it is pretty frustrating to feel that they care more about the hype than a good customer buying experience.

For the last few launches, purchasing by internet was an equitable option that delivered some convenience at the expense of having it right away. Unless this launch is an anomaly, things are changing.
 
I think it makes sense that they favor the apple store as their delivery channel. The apple store lets them have as much influence over the whole process as possible. I made the mistake of ordering through macmall, and completely regret it.

I was surprised they did the reserve online in past onsales, as it made for an "us" and "them" experience that frustrated walk up customers. At least with the way they did it this time, everyone is treated equally. If you wanted an ipad, you got in line and bought it.
 
I have a feeling the Japanese earthquake disrupted their supply chain. This would affect anything after the first few days after the earthquake. Fits with the last shipment being Saturday.
 
grawk said:
I was surprised they did the reserve online in past onsales, as it made for an "us" and "them" experience that frustrated walk up customers. At least with the way they did it this time, everyone is treated equally. If you wanted an ipad, you got in line and bought it.
Click to expand...

I miss the reserve option if only because it could help anticipate demand, which would have been especially helpful this time with 18 different models of iPad for sale. Would a reserve option on March 2 been enough time to adjust the initial shipments for March 11? Probably not, but it could have helped in subsequent shipments (plus maybe, just maybe could stop a bit of the gray market purchasing).

Also, can Apple PLEASE bring back the availability status pages on the website like they did for the iPhone and iPhone 3G releases? I seriously miss that.
 
DeaconGraves said:
I miss the reserve option if only because it could help anticipate demand, which would have been especially helpful this time with 18 different models of iPad for sale. Would a reserve option on March 2 been enough time to adjust the initial shipments for March 11? Probably not, but it could have helped in subsequent shipments (plus maybe, just maybe could stop a bit of the gray market purchasing).

Also, can Apple PLEASE bring back the availability status pages on the website like they did for the iPhone and iPhone 3G releases? I seriously miss that.
Click to expand...

This. Both would reduce the insanity.
 
danredwing said:
I get that they sold a ton, but I don't believe for a minute that they didn't anticipate it. Also, the number of iPads that they sell should have no effect on the launch planning. They would have sold out just as fast through better executed channels that didn't leave customers frustrated.

As it stands, the communication is cryptic at best and it appears that they are giving priority to the zoo that is the Apple retail store.

Let me be clear here. Apple can do whatever they like, as it is their product and their launch, but as a loyal customer, it is pretty frustrating to feel that they care more about the hype than a good customer buying experience.

For the last few launches, purchasing by internet was an equitable option that delivered some convenience at the expense of having it right away. Unless this launch is an anomaly, things are changing.
Click to expand...

Hype is community driven. Apple hasn't done anything to foster the hype other than announcing when the product would be released. Some are claiming that it was a corporate directive to inform customers to arrive an hour early to their local Apple stores today, yet there is no evidence to support any of those theories.
 
danredwing said:
For the last few launches, purchasing by internet was an equitable option that delivered some convenience at the expense of having it right away. Unless this launch is an anomaly, things are changing.
Click to expand...

This seems a little overblown, considering that people are receiving iPad 2's from China in the United States today, 3 business days after they placed the order, and all initial orders were all given 3-5 business days as a shipping timeframe, we're still well within that window.

If people didn't want to deal with that, and wanted it quicker than they should have gotten in line plenty early, plain and simple, and they'd have one right now.

It sucks, but it's looking like there's unprecedented demand for this product with a supply that's trying to catch up as quickly as possible. Providing pre-orders likely would have still left people that pre-ordered out in the cold.
 
danredwing said:
I get that they sold a ton, but I don't believe for a minute that they didn't anticipate it. Also, the number of iPads that they sell should have no effect on the launch planning. They would have sold out just as fast through better executed channels that didn't leave customers frustrated.

As it stands, the communication is cryptic at best and it appears that they are giving priority to the zoo that is the Apple retail store.

Let me be clear here. Apple can do whatever they like, as it is their product and their launch, but as a loyal customer, it is pretty frustrating to feel that they care more about the hype than a good customer buying experience.

For the last few launches, purchasing by internet was an equitable option that delivered some convenience at the expense of having it right away. Unless this launch is an anomaly, things are changing.
Click to expand...

so Apple should launch a product and down play everything? It's our best, but you'll have to wait and fight for it.
 
Was OPs comment tongue and cheek?

1) Delivery is fast. They said fulfillment time will take weeks. Two different things.

2) Whatever supply issues Apple has had in the past and current, people still keep coming back for more.

3) Loyalty to a company is a self-serving, narcissistic concept. Apple owes customers nothing. Consumers owe Apple nothing. The relationship is mutual, Apple produces product people like and people buy it. Companies that do use "loyalty" to keep customers do so because they don't have anything unique to offer the customer so they "buy" their loyalty.

4) Apple can sell every single iPad 2 it can make so it's to Apple benefit to make them as fast as possible and get them in to customer's hands. Apple is not artificially creating this shortage. If they don't get product out quick enough they know there are Android and WebOS competitors here and coming soon. People could get tired of waiting and go with one of those. Lost sales.
 
1) Could this not have gone in one of the dozen other threads about this very topic?

2) What, exactly would you like Apple to do here? They have a massively popular product and they're never going to be able to make everyone happy. It makes NO sense to stockpile millions of units over the course of months when you could have them in the hands of happy customers. If they allow reservations you're going to end up with hundreds of people who are unaware of the system queing at Apple stores only to be told there's none in stock when others walk straight in and out with them. Stock checking systems only help if there's stock to check, when it's being shipped straight to store and immediately sold it's almost pointless.

Sorry but I'm getting massively fed up of the complaints about this because they're not based in reality. The simple fact is it's a massively popular product with no real guidance on what that demand would be pre-launch. Apple are trying to meet demand not just in the US but for international launches as well. Of COURSE there are going to be shortages, there's no way around that but if you'd ordered on-line on launch day you would be looking at a wait of around 2 - 3 weeks. That's bloody brilliant for a product with this demand and, frankly, the big game companies (who are about the only other market I can think of that deal with this) could learn a thing or two.
 
Tell that to HP who sold HP slate about 50000 units at launch and they said the demand was higher than expected. They were on back order for a while.

Apple is doing very good. There will be unhappy customers and there will be shortages all the times.
 
How many products do you know of that are released in March and has this much interest. Apple could release another new Ipad next week and there would still be long lines not matter what they did. So is it really Apple or is it the customer? The customer is the one waiting in line and not even knowing if there is stock in the store. 100's of people in line and less than a 100 to sell, what are they thinking. The demand is there and they know it so they got you where they want you. Create the demand and limit the supply. Makes people want it even more.
 
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danredwing said:
I get that they sold a ton, but I don't believe for a minute that they didn't anticipate it. Also, the number of iPads that they sell should have no effect on the launch planning. They would have sold out just as fast through better executed channels that didn't leave customers frustrated.

As it stands, the communication is cryptic at best and it appears that they are giving priority to the zoo that is the Apple retail store.

Let me be clear here. Apple can do whatever they like, as it is their product and their launch, but as a loyal customer, it is pretty frustrating to feel that they care more about the hype than a good customer buying experience.

For the last few launches, purchasing by internet was an equitable option that delivered some convenience at the expense of having it right away. Unless this launch is an anomaly, things are changing.
Click to expand...

Great post. Unfortunately they knew exactly what they were doing, and have the exact outcome they wanted.
 
Apple shipped a million iPads... but why didn't they ship two million???

Apple brought about world peace... but why didn't they cure cancer???
 
danredwing said:
...to underpromise and overdeliver.
Click to expand...
Why? They generate a lot of excitement and drama by doing what they're doing. You do know that thy artificially created the long lines by preventing pre-ordering.

They current model they have embraced has been extremely successful for them and I do not see any desire to fix whats not broken (in their eyes).
 
Isn't it just possible that they can't manufacture them fast enough? Same thing happened with previous launches. It's incredible to think about the logistics that go into producing something like an iPad. ALL of their component suppliers have to keep up with demand as well, and with the demand as high as it seems to be for this launch, I think they're doing the best they can.
 
The logistics of shipping the first 500,000 ipads to a limited number of places vs shipping to 500,000 people are probably what led to their favoring their own stores and to a few select other vendors.
 
The pre order started around 1 AM (roughly). There was no in store pickup this time. If you wanted to guarantee you would get one in a relatively short amount of time you could have ordered online asap. If you wanted one the day of release you should have gotten in line somewhere. Apple sold them at several retail locations. Not everyone has an apple store near them.

It is in apples best interest to get as many iPad 2's into the public hands asap as widespread as possible.

Lines happen - supply and demand is not an exact science
 
Surf Monkey said:
You have no evidence to support that statement. Many factors could have caused Apple to skip pre-orders, marketing being only one of them.
Click to expand...

You're right and like most every other post here at MR, its an opinion.

There is no other logical reason why apple did not allow pre-orders especially when it cleared FCC fairly quickly. They quickly understood the "magical" moment of seeing thousands of fans waiting in line for their products. It generates tons of press and implies that its a must have device.
 
I believe everything Apple does is well scripted and very successful. Just look at how the stock is doing, especially in these tough times. Why change things? The masses keep coming back for more!!
 
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