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Apple Officially Confirms iPad 2 Launches in 25 Countries on Friday
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Can anyone confirm what happens before the iPads are available online? Does the store go down for maintenance as usual?
Learn from the experience in the US
If you're smart, you'll avoid lines and order on-line as soon as possible...
If you're smart, you'll avoid lines and order on-line as soon as possible...
like it or not Apple is an international company with an international market so world wide people get to wait.
the good news, it is the growing popularity of Apple that is driving new product development.
Of course, easy for me to say. I got in line opening day and got mine. While people laughed.
There will be inventory in a month or two.
how do you reckon that's smart? I invested two hours in line, with free water and snacks, had a blast, and got mine. Many people who ordered online are still waiting.
Unfortunately I can't spend Apple Gift Cards through the online store or I would be online ordering at 1am.
I'm guessing it's as local as the 5pm time?
Annoying tho - that's when I sleep!
Apple allocating batches of these from China to go to different countries is sensible imo. It certainly generates more hype than fulfilling one countries requirements and then moving on months later.
Again, please tell me why Apple would rather you wait to buy an iPad vs you buying iPad?
Supply and demand, sonny.
There's worldwide demand for this product, not just the United States. Apple has a vested interest in balancing what it can offer vis-a-vis the entire world, not just one nation. These 25 countries are a major part of Apple's business.
As a matter of fact, roughly 60% of Apple's worldwide revenue comes from international markets, if you ever bothered to read their financials or listen to the coverage of a single analyst conference call.
Worldwide distribution and sales is critical to Apple's success as global corporation, not just making sure that everyone in Salina, Kansas who wants an iPad gets one before they move their focus to Carbondale, Illinois.
International availability also spurs the growth of app development, another crucial element to the success of the iDevice ecosystem.
It's a balance that Apple has to find, a challenge presented to companies whose products are in high demand, but with constrained availability. This is not a problem for Samsung and their Galaxy Tab. If you want one of those, there are tens of thousands of them sitting on store shelves right now.
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Apple makes a lot of money from international customers too, you know. At worst they would p!ss off less people (i.e. in the US) than a whole lot more around the world should they delay the 25/3 launch.
Funny. In an attempt to show up all Americans as self-entitled and arrogant you suggest that Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK is "everyone else on Earth."
Seriously though but-for the Asian gangs more Americans would have their iPad 2 already, and but-for some Americans slamming Apple's previous "no cash" policy their would be fewer Asian gangs able to line up for iPad 2s. So you do make a slight, if overwrought, point.
That said when the above countries sell out on the 25th there will be plenty of non-American whiners to join the American ones.
Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen a major product launch with high demand before? What you're asking for - dealing with the initial demand for a product - might take MONTHS to accomplish. In the meantime Apple alienates pretty much every market other than the US. Great idea that one.
Seriously, why are US geeks so up in arms about this? Look at every major console launch and you'll see exactly the same pattern (in fact Apple are probably doing better than the last few console launches). The 'me me me, now now now' view that so many seem to adopt is just depressing.
They have different language packs installed on them, different boxes, etc. Let's say they can only make 200,000 iPads a day and only 75,000 them are packaged for the US (these numbers are only made up)...
Its really simple.
You set aside a percentage of available stock for each country
You set aside a percentage of those for online sales and for store sales
That is how you are 'fair'.
If there are shortages because less are available - the percentages stay the same and everyone waits
But if there is more demand - you don't start nicking percentages from other countries - that is just not a noble thing.
I know you don't mean to whine - but that is the way it came across when you say noone else in the world should have any until the us gets theirs first.
You may as well have cheered the japan delay for freeing up more stock.
Its just not a good thing to do.
Hmmm...only £80 to go from a 32gb 3g to the 64gb....that is kinda tempting...
Where is my iPad, a month to ship? Sucks tits.
haha we all rofled at this one... how true
