iPads in Short Supply as Online Orders Pushed to 3-4 Weeks

[Full of Win]

You make it sound like Apple is the only company with the resources to do it right. Remember, there are many other multibillion dollar companies with deep pockets. Don't feel like Apple is cheating because they are successful.

They have the clout in the market to do it. Others do it to (Sony, Microsoft). It very logical, in that making something appear as a scarce item will increase demand for it. For example, if the news said that gas supplies were very limited to unavailable for the next two weeks, within an hour there would be lines at the gas station and police in riot gear. Apple will plant this idea in the minds of consumers and when they do see one in the next week or so, they will think "oooh its my lucky day" and buy one.

I don't think Apple has a huge storehouse of new iPads they are sitting on thought. I think its just that they limited the initial run and will scale up from here.

I might be jaded after they changed the the whole pre-order and in-store reservation system to make lining up on launch day a necessity and not an option.

 

[BigDukeSix]

I bet they shipped a bunch of IPads out, and the demand was even higher than expected. I am anxious to hear the launch day sales numbers this coming week. No doubt Apple made a pile of money on this deal!!

 

[Frankied22]

I swung around to my local Apple Store here in Grand Rapids, MI at like 7pm Friday because the guy told me they had quite a few left. I got there and there was still a line of like 40 people. By the time I got nearer they announced they only had about 8 left of the 64gb Verizon white model. So I immediately called every Target, Best Buy, and Wal-mart near there and everyone was sold out except for a Wal-mart 40 minutes away. They had one left, a 64gb wifi only black model. Bingo! And I got the guy to hold it for me while I drove up there. So now I got one and loving it.

That's winning.

 

[emilsjr]

Just part of the Apple Hype Building machine.

They are throwin it into overdrive with this so-called shortage. Keep on playing Apple, your ability to do so will not be here forever.

Oh look Full of ... something ... posted again in a story. Welcome to ignore.

 

[GadgetAddict]

One thing is for sure; this launch was very sketchy and the reasons will be debated for weeks. I can understand that Apple is in the business of making money but as much as I like their products, I hate feeling manipulated for their public image.

 

[Brien]

Hopefully next year the 3G will be built into all models. Or, at the very least, there will be one CDMA/GSM version...I don't see how the 3G circuitry and antenna can cost $130.

Yes. I am hoping that they condense everything down into one world model (GSM/CDMA/wifi).

 

[Demosthenes X]

did the earthquake have anything to do with shipments from china? (I know it's the least of our worries, just curious)

Gizmodo reported earlier that it might effect supplies of components like flash memory, which are manufactured in Japan. FWIW.

 

[deadwalrus]

When do you think Apple will report the first sales numbers? Will total weekend sales be available on Monday?

Any guesses as to what the numbers will be? I'm betting Apple was able to push at lot more inventory out to stores this weekend than people may be giving them credit for. I bet they sell close to a million Friday - Sunday. Above 750,000 anyway. Between 750,000 and 1,000,000.

No way. It sounds like the Apple Stores and the Best Buys got the bulk of the units.

There are ~ 1000 Best Buys in the U.S. There are ~ 250 Apple Stores.

From what I've heard, the Best Buys got between 50 and 200. Let's go with 200 to be generous. The two Apple Stores in my town got about 500 each. Let's say every Apple Store got 1000.

1000 Best Buys * 200 units + 250 Apple Stores * 1000 Unites = a maxiumum of 450,000 units. Nothing to sneeze at, but not 1,000,000.

Of course, if they count the online orders, who knows.

 

[ftaok]

They have the clout in the market to do it. Others do it to (Sony, Microsoft). It very logical, in that making something appear as a scarce item will increase demand for it. For example, if the news said that gas supplies were very limited to unavailable for the next two weeks, within an hour there would be lines at the gas station and police in riot gear. Apple will plant this idea in the minds of consumers and when they do see one in the next week or so, they will think "oooh its my lucky day" and buy one.

I don't think Apple has a huge storehouse of new iPads they are sitting on thought. I think its just that they limited the initial run and will scale up from here.

I might be jaded after they changed the the whole pre-order and in-store reservation system to make lining up on launch day a necessity and not an option.

My personal opinion is that Apple is cranking iPads out as fast as they can. Could they have held off a few weeks to build the inventory ... sure.

As for creating a false scarcity, I don't buy it. It's not like Apple is driving the price up. They've set the price and none of the retailers are taking advantage of the shortage to make more profit, although eBayers are probably raking in some cash.

Does Apple want long lines? Sure, it creates a sense of desirability. When lots of people want certain things, it makes other people want it as well.

I too think that the short/no lines for the Verizon iPhone killed any desire by Apple to allow pre-orders.

 

[Popeye206]

Seems as though whatever Apple is doing, they're doing it right... no iPads around here. All sold out.

But it's okay... I want one for my daughter, but she can wait.

 

[MUrhino]

3G version works overseas?

The story said that some people were buying out the AT&T version to use overseas w/ compatible GSM networks. Would this actually work or is it a specific AT&T SIM inside the iPad? I'd like the option to use it overseas w/out having to use AT&T, but if that won't work I'll consider the Verizon version more. Thanks for any info!

 

[cult hero]

Who cares if they ARE building hype?

Apple is a FOR PROFIT company. I will never understand when they are criticized for making money by doing money-making things. The only people who are "punished" by this are people who can't wait a week for a new iPad. Okay. Who cares?

 

[Mkiley0598]

I think that demand is higher than apple had expected because they want to sell as many units as possible more units=more money <3 $$$$$$$

 

[Shanpdx]

$700 laptop

I wish they make one good kick a** Mac OS X laptop for $700 then the lines will form for the Mac Laptop as well...

but intel is not willing to let their CPUs to be cheap, any good mobile CPUs will cost minimum of $200 and north, AMD where are you? (with advanced Fusion chips).

I just sold my iPad in ebay in Instant sale, will wait for a week or two in Portland to get the new one... I prefer to go to apple store and get it, it is very near to my place.

man, launch day was crowded, not sure today though

APPLE, please bring the Mac OS X to the masses like you did with iPhone/iPad/iPod ... win/win /us

 

[mcmlxix]

Is that guy's mutton chops tattooed on?

 

[IbisDoc]

As for creating a false scarcity, I don't buy it.

I too think that the short/no lines for the Verizon iPhone killed any desire by Apple to allow pre-orders.

Didn't you contradict yourself with these two statements?

 

[Full of Win]

The story said that some people were buying out the AT&T version to use overseas w/ compatible GSM networks. Would this actually work or is it a specific AT&T SIM inside the iPad? I'd like the option to use it overseas w/out having to use AT&T, but if that won't work I'll consider the Verizon version more. Thanks for any info!

Its unlocked, so yes it should work. You may have to change the APN setting to the carrier you are using, but I'm not sure on that. Also, you may have to cut down the SIM to the micro- form factor that Apple now uses.

 

[shepfrompa]

What is the estimated retail value of the skid of iPads?

 

[Shanpdx]

Japan Earthquake on front page

on another note, apple setup a link in the front page to donate link to Japan Earthquake via iTunes...

 

[IbisDoc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Gotta love the conspiracy theories. If apple restricted supply on openin day they won't be able to boast about launch weekend sales numbers.

Apple could have sold more on opening day than they did. So the alternative explanation is it's hard to launch a massively popular device.

In other words apple announcing they only sold 250000 iPads on launch weekend hurts them more than the fact they had long lines on opening day.

There is absolutely no doubt that Apple would prefer to have a product that requires waiting all day in line and a month by mail order. No doubt. If everyone had the product in the first weekend, people would move on to the next story.

 

[imwoblin]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Apple should have allowed pre orders as it does whenever it releases new product, but they decided to create buzz and hype and lines to drive sales. I played that game for iPhone 1, 3G & iPad 1 but no more. I'm as big an Apple dork as there is but I'm done waiting in line for 6 hours to buy an updated product.
As a side, my local Best Buy only received 100 total iPad units & sold out immediately.
Lots of pissed off potential customers.
Again, if Apple allowed preorders they could have gaged the roll out much better.
<off my soapbox>

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

No way. It sounds like the Apple Stores and the Best Buys got the bulk of the units.

There are ~ 1000 Best Buys in the U.S. There are ~ 250 Apple Stores.

From what I've heard, the Best Buys got between 50 and 200. Let's go with 200 to be generous. The two Apple Stores in my town got about 500 each. Let's say every Apple Store got 1000.

1000 Best Buys * 200 units + 250 Apple Stores * 1000 Unites = a maxiumum of 450,000 units. Nothing to sneeze at, but not 1,000,000.

Of course, if they count the online orders, who knows.

Don't forget to count in all the other retailers also selling the iPad 2. Walmart, AT&T, Verizon, etc...

I'd like to get a figure of how many unique sales there are or how many people just bought the iPad for themselves. How many people bought multiples only to sell for a $200+ profit margin or to ship internationally?

 

[shepfrompa]

What is the estimated retail value of the skid of iPads?

My guess over $200,000

Ipad 1 package was 8" x 10" by 2". If the skid or pallet is 40" x 48" You could 24 boxes on a layer. The estimated height is 24" or 12 layers. 24x12 = 288 Ipads. Average cost of Ipad is $664. 288 ipads at average of $664 = $191,232 plus it looks like another few partial layers on top.

 

[kiljoy616]

considering their long experience since the first iphone on these high demand products at launch one would think they could actually anticipate correctly how much stock they need to not leave so many people disappointed who waited hours on end in long lines.

Or it's done on purpose.

Or maybe they don't make as much to make sure any problems that may affect the product and they don't over build. I don't think Apple is the only client for Foxcom.

 

[Eye4Desyn]

...Face it, Apple likes those long lines and telling people "we don't have enough." They like the frenzy it creates. Watch how in 2 weeks everyone can magically get an iPad at any store without any issue.

Sorry dude, I'm gonna have to call you on this one (you're comment above is complete B.S. - at least in my neck of the woods). Last year when the original iPad launched you couldn't just walk right in to an Store and pick one up for at least three months. Every iPad was spoken for the second the shipment hit the floors. Oh... and I live in a major metropolitan area that has four Stores within 25 miles of each other - not braggin' just sayin'.