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Is it just OKC, or did Apple step up the iPad 2012 release?

clyde2801

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 6, 2008
4,365
54
In the land of no hills and red dirt.
Walked into my local OKC Apple store at 8:50 am, almost an hour after the special early opening, and there was NO LINE.

Dejected, and assuming they sold out, I spoke to the Blue Shirts at the door, who informed me there was no problem getting the new AT&T iPad in either the 32 or 64 gig version.

I also couldn't help but notice a wall-wide stack of iPad boxes along the back of the store at the far end of the genius bar. Pointing this out, the setup assistant responded that while quite a few were pre-orders, they had no problem with availability, at least for the present moment.

Considering how it went last year, it seems Apple really stepped up their game in making the new iPad readily available. Or was I just really lucky and at the right place at the right time?

Did anyone experience a sell out at their local apple store?
 
I don't know but I hope so, it's really the only way to put the scalpers out of business.
 
I'm wondering if the demand simply wasn't there like it was for the iPad2. I'm not saying they didn't step it up, but I'm wondering if that's the only factor.
 
Kadin said:
I'm wondering if the demand simply wasn't there like it was for the iPad2. I'm not saying they didn't step it up, but I'm wondering if that's the only factor.
Click to expand...

I think what happened this year was (i) availability of preorders, and (ii) increased supply. From what I've been able to tell, Apple stores and Best Buys are both getting much more stock than they did last year at launch. Recall that there were no preorders last year AND there were parts shortages as a result of the Japan earthquake.

Judging by the pace of the pre-orders not just in the US but in other parts of the world, demand was there. We'll see though.
 
I give Tim Cook credit for doing what Apples never done before.

He insured that inventory was robust, thereby making droves of buyers happy, and facilitating sales of models without compromise.

The launch was smooth, many regular non-tech types were able to walk in and not have to wait, a pleasant surprise, and it left a great impression.

In my area word got out early that it was well organized with no waiting. As a result I personally know five people who left work to buy one, knowing they weren't going to be stuck for hours.

One of the best launches ever, and thanks to Tim, there's great inventory for tomorrow as well.
 
The pre-order played a huge part on why there is no line at the stores. Why would you stand in line for hours when you can pre-order and wait for delivery at the comfort of your house. Granted, pre-order wait at apple.com right now will take 2-3 wks, a huge chunk of the first wave occurred minutes after it was announced, so that probably took 60% of customers who might have instead lined up.
 
At the Tulsa Best Buy I walked in at 3:00pm grabbed the Verizion 64gb bought and left. They said they had 350 units left.
 
When I got in line at 7am at one of the central Apple Stores in the Seattle area, the line was nothing compared to when I got in line 3 hours early for the iPhone 4. It seems to me that there is both less demand immediately and more product available, the combination of which means stores have plenty of stock.

(of course, I didn't even need to get there an hour early - I preordered for in-store pickup, there were only 5 of us in that line!)
 
Possible that folks in OKC didn't know there was a new iPad? Was born and raised there and I think that's a distinct possibility.
 
ixodes said:
I give Tim Cook credit for doing what Apples never done before.

He insured that inventory was robust, thereby making droves of buyers happy, and facilitating sales of models without compromise.

The launch was smooth, many regular non-tech types were able to walk in and not have to wait, a pleasant surprise, and it left a great impression.

In my area word got out early that it was well organized with no waiting. As a result I personally know five people who left work to buy one, knowing they weren't going to be stuck for hours.

One of the best launches ever, and thanks to Tim, there's great inventory for tomorrow as well.
Click to expand...

If this really was Tim Cook's doing, you have to wonder why they didn't do this in the past. Perhaps Steve knew a little thing or two about the value of scarcity with respect to human psychology ...
 
Preorders! There were none on the iPad 2.

And yeah, my local Walmart had a dozen of them on the shelf earlier tonight including 4g ones...as if Joplin has 4g...:D
 
thelookingglass said:
If this really was Tim Cook's doing, you have to wonder why they didn't do this in the past. Perhaps Steve knew a little thing or two about the value of scarcity with respect to human psychology ...
Click to expand...
Here's my take on it.

Steve was brilliant, Tim is brilliant, each in their own way.

As a very loyal, long time Apple customer, enthusiast, and engineer who follows Apple closely, both approaches have merit.

Steve was the master of illusion (I say that respectfully) and influenced people to buy as though they'd run out at any moment. While wildly successful, I believe if he would have provided more, they would have had even bigger launch and quarterly numbers.

Tim worked under Steves shadow & I'm sure he could not convince Steve that a larger launch day inventory was the right thing to do. Steve's ego was just too dominate.
 
thelookingglass said:
If this really was Tim Cook's doing, you have to wonder why they didn't do this in the past. Perhaps Steve knew a little thing or two about the value of scarcity with respect to human psychology ...
Click to expand...

I have to wonder about this too. Without lines, there are no news stories about lines, and no free publicity.

OTOH, that certain satisfaction that comes with owning something that's sold out everywhere is probably limited to the hardcore fans. Apple's in business to move product, not make techies feel cool.

You gotta figure that even though SJ is gone, his marketing savvy lives on. Every move Apple makes is highly calculated. My guess is they scored some bigger discounts from suppliers by producing much larger quantities, and maybe even lowered their shipping costs by upping output. That seems like a pretty Tim Cook kind of approach. Making more is cheaper.
 
There are rumors that the new iPad has been rolling off assembly lines since before the new year. Those rumors now appear to be true. I think they have realized that if you have more available, you have more to sell. Tim Cook is very good with inventory management. Yes, the pre-orders will always sell out, and the store availability will sell out too, but maybe it won't be for as long this time. It would be nice for Apple to find a happy medium between making the product seem more desirable because it always sells out and making it available to ALL the people who want one at launch.
 
let us wait for the Apple sales number.

$500 to $700 is a lot of money to spend on every year.

Also iPad 2 had a camera which was missing in iPad 1 and faster CPU. I know retina display beats the hell out of iPad 2, may be the sales will be slow and steady.
 
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