Shipping Dates for New iPad Orders Begin to Slip, White AT&T Models First Hit in U.S.

[MacRumors]

Following the new Apple TV's slip to a 1-2 week shipping estimate in Apple's U.S. online store late yesterday, the first signs of Apple's supplies of the new iPad beginning to run short have now emerged, with 16 GB and 64 GB models of the AT&T 4G iPad in white now showing estimated shipping dates of March 19 in the store. All models had previously been listed as delivering on the launch date of March 16.

Shipping dates are beginning to slip in other launch countries as well, with Apple's store for Japan showing delivery by March 19 and its German store citing a date of March 22. In Canada, several models including the black 64 GB Wi-Fi and white 32 GB Wi-Fi, 64 GB Wi-Fi, and 16 GB 4G are now showing an "available" date of March 19, while all models had previously been promised for delivery within the March 16-20 window.

Apple experienced several months' worth of shortages of the iPad 2 at launch, and the company is rolling out the new iPad on an even more aggressive schedule with ten countries being included in the first round on March 16 and 25 more being added just one week later.

Update: Apple's UK online store is now showing shipping estimates of 2-3 weeks for all models of the new iPad.

Article Link: Shipping Dates for New iPad Orders Begin to Slip, White AT&T Models First Hit in U.S.

 

[kycophpd]

The first day shipping date lasted MUCH longer than I anticipated. I foresee a month long wait for the new iPad, at least one or two versions of it, by the 16th.

 

[nfl46]

I'm surprised the base $499 didn't slip first. Looks like a lot wanted that LTE. I am still debating whether I want the $499. I would hate to stand in line. Seconds are ticking away.

 

[centauratlas]

Frankly I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner, but perhaps given the issues with the Apple Store yesterday afternoon helped to delay Apple from selling the initial supplies that quickly.

It is interesting to see the sales patterns for the various combinations of network, color and memory.

 

[Rocketman]

The pre-order scheme gives their production arm a good early indication of which of the many different SKUs will be more popular.

The worldwide rollout was something I identified some time ago as a likely outcome of Tim Cook becoming CEO.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14218506/

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14224329/

Rocketman

 

[DrJohnnyN]

Well, that sucks.

 

[atMac]

Glad I ordered my 64GB white AT&T right after the site went back up then.

 

[troop231]

It was a disaster trying to order within the first few hours, but I still managed to get my 64GB ATT Black model order in at least

Note to Apple: Please build a data center just for launch day ordering..

 

[abulldog]

Had to go check my pre-order after reading this. My order still shows

iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G LTE for AT&T 64GB - Black (3rd generation)

Delivers on March 16 via Standard Shipping

 

[Caliber26]

I'm sure the haters will try to look at this as a failure for the just-released iPad, but I'm guessing Apple was prepared this time. This, too, will help stop all the freaking scalpers.

With that said, the 16th can't get here soon enough. I'm sure I'll look like a crackhead, looking out my window every two minutes, hoping for UPS/FedEx to arrive.

 

[lee14160]

I decided to wait until this summer to get the iPad 3 (HD) my iPad 1G is stilling going strong, and with the iOS 5.1 upgrade.

Figured by waiting for summer there won't be the problems of getting the unit I would want.

 

[Bear]

Had to go check my pre-order after reading this. My order still shows

iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G LTE for AT&T 64GB - Black (3rd generation)

Delivers on March 16 via Standard Shipping

It would've been a surprise if the shipping expectation had changed on an existing order. It's people placing orders now that would be impacted by the changes.

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

Glad I got my 2 iPad order in. 1 for me. 1 for eBay!

 

[striker33]

I decided to wait until this summer to get the iPad 3 (HD) my iPad 1G is stilling going strong, and with the iOS 5.1 upgrade.

Figured by waiting for summer there won't be the problems of getting the unit I would want.

There are so many things that are wrong with this comment.

 

[Bear]

Glad I got my 2 iPad orders in. 1 for me. 1 for eBay!

Apparently I haven't used ebay in so long that I just got an email from ebay saying they will delete my account in 30 days if it isn't used before then.

There are too many disadvantages and risks in buying from ebay and has been for a while.One clear disadvantage here is that the warranty starts with the original buyers shipment, so that reduces the warrant. Also, there is a small window when one can purchase AppleCare+. Buying one from ebay could mean you can't get AppleCare+ for the unit.

 

[fxtech]

I'm surprised the base $499 didn't slip first. Looks like a lot wanted that LTE. I am still debating whether I want the $499. I would hate to stand in line. Seconds are ticking away.

I'm curious why you want the LTE? Why not just tether it to your phone, when you need to?

(US Cellular customer here, and "basic" tethering is free - part of my data plan).

 

[derek1984]

I could see

Some iPad orders might be received 3/15. I could see this happening.

This would make it easier for FedEx as well.

 

[radge]

I felt a bit sheepish this morning when I looked at the Apple site and it still listed the black 32GB Wi-Fi models as being delivered on the 16th, I could have ordered one this morning instead of letting the online store rule my life for 2 hours yesterday.

 

[danistyping]

Wow...maybe instead of keeping the 3 (two 32gb, one 64gb) that my family ordered we'll keep 1 and profit off the price hikes through ebay on the other 2.

I remember iPad 2's selling for almost 1k last year....Thoughts?

 

[KPOM]

The first day shipping date lasted MUCH longer than I anticipated. I foresee a month long wait for the new iPad, at least one or two versions of it, by the 16th.

It sounds like Apple had the supply chain ready (hence the worldwide rollout). I was a bit worried with the 3-4 hour delays trying to log onto the store at first, but by yesterday evening the store site was up and running and the process took just a few minutes. I'm now waiting for the white 32GB AT&T myself!

Interestingly, white seems to be a very popular choice now. I picked it as I already have a white 4S. I was debating whether to go with Verizon so I'd have a diverse array of providers, but in the end figured this would let me see how well or poorly AT&T's LTE network works in NYC before the new iPhone rollout this fall. If it works well enough, I might opt for the $50 plan with Wi-Fi hotspot and then cancel my T-Mobile account (the only reason I keep it now is for mobile Wi-Fi on my Nexus One).

----------

I felt a bit sheepish this morning when I looked at the Apple site and it still listed the black 32GB Wi-Fi models as being delivered on the 16th, I could have ordered one this morning instead of letting the online store rule my life for 2 hours yesterday.

That is a lot of us. It sounds like Apple got their supply chain in order, even if they didn't quite get their store web servers in order in advance of the rush.

 

[Vtwo]

Hong kong

You guys are lucky. The Hong Kong store started selling the wifi(4g not available in hong kong yet) at 1 pm and by 2:30 pm, all models were sold out. And that is with 3 server crashes during that time with meant it was only accessible for 45 minutes and it was very slow.

Of course, that is because there is an entire industry based buying iPhones and selling to grey market. If you have enough credit cards and accounts, you can actually make a decent living like $2000-3000 USD per month when iPhones are first made available.

 

[DudeDad]

I'm curious why you want the LTE? Why not just tether it to your phone, when you need to?

(US Cellular customer here, and "basic" tethering is free - part of my data plan).

If you have LTE in your area, it should work faster than tethering to a 3G iPhone...I choose to tether because I'm usually not using my 1st gen iPad away from wifi, and when I do, tethering is fine...but, if you want LTE speeds...

 

[l3it3r]

i got my 64GB AT&T order in just a few minutes ago. I tried to do it last night but their servers were being KILLED.

March 16 delivery date

 

[fxtech]

If you have LTE in your area, it should work faster than tethering to a 3G iPhone...I choose to tether because I'm usually not using my 1st gen iPad away from wifi, and when I do, tethering is fine...but, if you want LTE speeds...

US Cellular is rolling out LTE this month, so I guess I'm "lucky". OTTH, no iPhone for me. But their service, call quality, and coverage area trumps that for me. Have to carry around both a phone and a Touch though. At the end of the day, a minor inconvenience than not being able to make calls, or getting bent over by AT&T.

 

[notjustjay]

So do you think this is a matter of "learning from previous experience" or might it have been intentional in the past to allow stock to dry up to create the appearance of extreme demand?