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iPad Mini Launch Attracting Shorter Lines on Launch Day

Just came back from the Brighton (UK) Apple store. There was hardly anyone there. I went up to purchase a black iPad mini and was sent to a guy in the entrance who gave me a ticket to hand to another member of staff who guided me to the Genius Bar where there were probably about twenty boxes on display.

I asked the girl who served me if that was all they had and she replied there were a few more boxes in the store room.

I got the impression they were expecting a few more people. Anyway, first impressions of the mini are positive.
 
turtlez said:
I guess no retina was a bigger step back than Apple counted on
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It was either that or come up with a new resolution and expect developers to program for a whole new scaling. Didn't they move away from programming for android exactly to get away from this?

Time will tell if this move was the lesser of 2 evils.
 
About 50 people in downtown montreal. Its raining so they distributed unbrellas and coffee in the line. I saw the opening but could not go look a the mini because only the people in line could enter.

I will go take a look at it at lunch.
 
I've been waiting for months for the iPad mini and yet now that it's here I'm in no rush. It's the screen that has put me off. I want it for reading and that's exactly where the old low res screen fails.

Maybe that's why so many others aren't in line either.

Apple, you miscalculated. Learn a lesson from this.
 
scotsrule08 said:
Got to my local bestbuy at 7:00 am and I'm the only person in line.:confused:
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If I remember my geometry correctly: If you are the only one there is it really a line? Sounds like you are in a point.

2_points_to_make_a_line.png

You need 2 or more points to make a line.;)
 
In line in Boston picking up a 4th gen. At least half the people in line are off the boat Chinese. Thought it was interesting. I'm half Chinese myself. :p
 
fpsBeaTt said:
I disagree; I had the pleasure of holding one today. It's an incredible design. If it had a Retina display, it would in all likelihood supplant my use for a full sized iPad.
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That is irrelevant. It is still not a flagship product. iPad is not a flagship product. iPhone outsells it by hundreds of millions. You can't compare an iphone line to an ipad line. It's like comparing the line in the movie premiere of The Avengers vs the line in the movie premiere of Abraham Lincoln Vampier Hunter. :confused:
 
Abazigal said:
It was either that or come up with a new resolution and expect developers to program for a whole new scaling. Didn't they move away from programming for android exactly to get away from this?

Time will tell if this move was the lesser of 2 evils.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Going with ipad 2 resolutions means the best app choice of all the small tablets.
 
this is an interesting thread. Why is the smaller line news worthy? Before the launch, analyst expected Apple will sell 50M iphone and 5-8m Ipad mini in 4Q. In 3Q12, Apple sell 14M ipad 2+Ipad 3 and 26.9m Iphone. So of course the line will be shorter.

As for retina display fans, are you sure you know what you want? Ipad 4 is about 1.44lb and Ipad mini is about 3/4 size of the Ipad 4. So a retina display at IPad 4 resolution of 2048x1536 Ipad min probably will weight about 1.08 lb (Ipad mini weight 0.68 lb), about 58% more than Ipad mini. And then who is going to pay for the cost of the extra set of led back light (Ipad 3/4 use 2 set of LED backlight) and the bigger battery pack (because of the extra set of LED back light). So an Ipad mini with retina display at Ipad 4 resolution will probably weight 58% more + may be $80 more.. Anyone still interest in a device like that?

Apple can get to retina spec on Ipad mini without going to 2048x1536 because of the smaller size (much like Nexus 7), but it introduces screen layout problem to all the tablet app in existence. A new resolution will force all the existing app to update the design and who know the schedule of when will they be done. So we end up a device that is just like Android tablet, a tablet with much better spec but terrible app experience. Is that what you want? I know I don't.

Ipad mini is not a flagship device. It is a entry level device that is much more mobile than the flagship Ipad 4. It cost lower and you can use it with one hand. If you are not willing to pay for the flagship price, you shouldn't compare it to the flagship features. Comparing to Nexus 7 or Amazon Fire HD is a fair game. But there is a reason that Google and Amazon priced their tablet with such a low price. It is an indication that the demand for their product is weak at higher price point. Asking for a lower price Ipad mini is like saying I want a steak but I am only willing to pay a hamburg price. Of course, you are going to be disappointed. Ipad mini is going to be the lowest margin product in the current Apple product line up. They discussed this in Apple earning conference call a week or so ago. Ipad 2 and Ipad 3 has 23 to 32% gross margin. After paying tax, design cost, distribution cost and pay tax, Apple at best make 10-12% on each Ipad 2 and Ipad 3. The base Ipad mini gross margin is going to be in the high teen and Apple probably make 3-5% profit after all the expense. The only way Apple can make money on Ipad mini is customer buy a lot of the high end model (the 32g, 64G or the one with wifi). The high end model will have a much better gross margin. Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD loss money for Google and Amazon. Google make up the loss by the search revenue (Google pay Apple to be used as the default search engine in IOS device but no fee to anyone for Android device). Amzn make it up when people spend money on their site and they sold the default search engine right to Microsoft.

http://www.morningstar.com/earnings/earnings-call-transcript.aspx?t=AAPL&pindex=2

I have an Ipad 3 and I am serious thinking about getting an Ipad mini for traveling and around town (e.g. use it as a nav). It is a different device than Iapd 3 because of the weight and size issue.
 
HarryKNN21 said:
So do we need to queue up for a Lightning cable in the future??:confused::confused:
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Do Apple stores not have them? I was at one last weekend and they had plenty of $19 Lightning USB cables, $29 30 pin adapters and $39 30 pin adapters with 0.2 m cord
 
xofruitcake said:
this is an interesting thread. Why is the smaller line news worthy?
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It is an Apple product news site. Any line or no line, if Apple is releasing a new product there will be a story. It would be silly if they ignored it.
 
ZenErik said:
In line in Boston picking up a 4th gen. At least half the people in line are off the boat Chinese. Thought it was interesting. I'm half Chinese myself. :p
Click to expand...

Those are obviously people who are going to scalp them.
 
Well, following Apple's previous release schedule an iPad Mini with Retina Display will be out in a year or two. A lot of people are probably waiting for that.
 
It's interesting that some of the mass media (Reuters in particular) seems to have gone past the curve of generally positive Apple stories to generally negative.
 
I'm at a best buy in Astoria, NY picking one up for my wife. The best buy is by low income housing. Never did I think there would be a line on launch day here, but sure enough, here I am...waiting.
 
The lines in my city for the iPad 3 ("new iPad") weren't that long either, as I recall, and that was considered a huge upgrade due to the retina screen.

I walked into the local Best Buy, Future Shop, etc. at about 2pm on my lunch break and I could have walked out with any iPad I wanted, they had plenty of stock.

As it was, I couldn't, because I had already pre-ordered mine, expecting a bigger launch day rush. So I ended up sitting at home until well after 5pm waiting for FedEx to arrive with my package. I would have received my iPad sooner if I hadn't preordered!

Oh well.
 
You also have to consider the people who had their iPad mini sent to their home instead of going into the store. Oh and the other thing is that they're only selling the iPad mini with wifi for now.
 
Wifi only & sales

I think part of the shorter lines are for one, they are only releasing the WiFi at the moment! I preordered the a Verizon WiFi iPad 4 to replace my iPad 3 and I know of quite a few people that preordered either the Mini with Cellular or iPad 4 with cellular. I'm sure if cellular models were on sale at the same time as WiFi only, we would be seeing much bigger lines!:apple::cool:
 
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