Someone in another thread has the answer. Sell way more inventory than you have, promising fast ship dates, just to capture a bunch of sales. Then drop the bad news. Some people will cancel, but many will not, and they end up capturing more sales than they would have otherwise.
The gift card thing is a bit puzzling, but then again, it’s a gift card. Not cash. Not a discount. They still maintain the same amount of (inflated) revenue. It may cost them some inventory cost later on, depending on how many gift cards are actually redeemed. But that pushes the problem down the road. Right now, it’s all about cash flow and revenue.
Yeah, that's BS. Makes no sense.
Step 1: Take pre-order for product you don't have.
Step 2: Seriously piss off customers. This isn't a 2-3 day delay, it's 2-3 weeks. Meanwhile people can walk into an Apple Store and pick one up today. Someone in another thread did it with the exact same model I have on pre-order with Target.
Step 3: Get bad publicity.
Step 4: Give $50 gift card to everyone who pre-ordered, EVEN if they cancel their order.
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit.
The fact that Target and Best Buy A) are experiencing the same exact thing, B) have the same exact (new) shipping times, and C) have the same exact response ($50 GC's) tells me this is mostly Apple's problem. Apple meanwhile will spin this to make themselves look good because demand is far exceeding supply.