Theories on why no preordering or reserving the iPad 2

[BeyondtheTech]

People on the internets have been buzzing, silently mulling and quietly bitching on why Apple decided to forgo any ability to preorder or reserve the iPad 2, considering those processes went "relatively well" with the iPad 1 and the iPhone 4.

Someone told me that it might have been due to the failed Verizon iPhone 4 launch.

Apple does care a lot about face, and let's face it, after all that buildup, ultimately having empty lines at Apple and Verizon retail stores across the United States was fodder for their competitors, regardless of how well Apple's product lineup is.

So, as a public show of force and continuing demand over their most competitive product for 2011-2012, Apple wants to show the world (with our blood, sweat and tears, mind you) how coveted the iPad 2 is, even when the iPad 1 remains king in the tablet market. Those long lines, the floodgates at the stores, the pent up demand for the next big thing out of Cupertino. It's all for show, and we're all a part of it.

People at Apple have been known to say that they don't care heavily about the stock price and what their competitors are up to. They say they're just focused on building a great product and make people happy and whatnot. But you can't tell me that crazy launch days like this doesn't fuel their ego or isn't meant to strike deep into the hearts of other manufacturers and their competing products.

What do you think?

 

[Apple OC]

Apple loves line-ups

 

[appleguy123]

Apple couldn't pre-order a product that wasn't approved by the FCC, and they couldn't submit to the FCC early or they'd have nothing to announce.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

The FCC approved the iPad 2 on announcement day, March 2, 2011. I think they could have said, "Preorders begin this Friday, and will be in stores next Friday."

Announced: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/the-ipad-2/

Approved: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-arrives-at-the-fcc/

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Have to agree, no preorders is simply a PR ploy to build long lines at Apple stores.

 

[King Luis]

maybe no pre orders is just the fact for first come first serve.
and if 1 million pre orders are there, why have certain people receive their ipad and others have to wait for another shipment to arrive?

i like the no pre-orders. its something that takes time to manufacture unlike a video game so why run out and have people complain about not having one?

damn there are so many complainers on here.

 

[baummer]

Creative theory. Definitely possible. I'm also thinking supply chain economics was a factor in that I suspect production was ramped up the past couple of weeks to meet whatever quota Apple determined they would need for their retail stores and other retail sales channels they supply to. By not doing a pre-order, they were better able to produce enough to be shipped to the various retail channels for launch day. This is also probably why a lot of online orders are seeing expected delivery dates all over the map.

 

[dohspc]

Could it possibly be due to the fact there are 18 different models and they're trying to release it at the Apple Store, Best Buy, AT&T, Verizon, Target, and Walmart at the same time?

 

[Colonel Badger]

Creative theory. Definitely possible. I'm also thinking supply chain economics was a factor in that I suspect production was ramped up the past couple of weeks to meet whatever quota Apple determined they would need for their retail stores and other retail sales channels they supply to. By not doing a pre-order, they were better able to produce enough to be shipped to the various retail channels for launch day. This is also probably why a lot of online orders are seeing expected delivery dates all over the map.

Totally agree. This wasn't about getting the biggest lines. This was simply a production/capacity thing. Rumors are that the yields for the thinner screens were lower than originally expected. Even if this isn't true what Apple did was take EVERY POSSIBLE IPAD they could produce up to this week and send them to stores, leaving all online orders to come directly from China which gives a little more lead time.

 

[OMGitworks]

Creative theory. Definitely possible. I'm also thinking supply chain economics was a factor in that I suspect production was ramped up the past couple of weeks to meet whatever quota Apple determined they would need for their retail stores and other retail sales channels they supply to. By not doing a pre-order, they were better able to produce enough to be shipped to the various retail channels for launch day. This is also probably why a lot of online orders are seeing expected delivery dates all over the map.

Don't you think having ACTUAL pre-order numbers in real time over the last week or two would have been a much more accurate way to ramp up production and would have allowed them to gauge demand better both online and in the store? I am guessing they are kicking themselves today for pushing out the online order delivery dates. They will be some very unhappy people over this, bu the Apple stores will be booming.

 

[OneMike]

maybe no pre orders is just the fact for first come first serve.
and if 1 million pre orders are there, why have certain people receive their ipad and others have to wait for another shipment to arrive?

i like the no pre-orders. its something that takes time to manufacture unlike a video game so why run out and have people complain about not having one?

damn there are so many complainers on here.

that doesn't make much sense.

with pre orders, the amount reserved doesn't exceed the amount available.

the whole point is to not have people waste time.

 

[maflynn]

Apple loves line-ups

This is why. Apple wants the PR, and the coverage.

 

[ZBoater]

I think it had to do more with having many other channels this go around and not wanting to upset them more than they already are with their retail pricing schemes. I mean, its bad enough I can't make any money off the iPad itself as a reseller, Apple is going to hoard all the early buyers with preorders too? That would add insult to an already ridiculous reseller model.

 

[anthonymoody]

Don't you think having ACTUAL pre-order numbers in real time over the last week or two would have been a much more accurate way to ramp up production and would have allowed them to gauge demand better both online and in the store? I am guessing they are kicking themselves today for pushing out the online order delivery dates. They will be some very unhappy people over this, bu the Apple stores will be booming.

The problem with a million pre-orders, assuming the rumors about tight supply are true, is that it would've left appreciably close to zero for in store sales, which would've been a huge fiasco.

 

[orangecrushv]

Personally, I think the 5 pm time is for PR and lines. If you only have like 4 hours to get one vs. all day, it creates more "panic"... Oh my gosh, someone can't have this toy overnight before me!

 

[Full of Win]

Is there really a question here?

Apple has placed its hype building over making it an easy purchase for buyers. For now some will bend over and accept it, but the day is coming when the android tablets will be as good or better than the iPad, and Apple will not have the rush of power in their bellies that they enjoy today.


Enjoy it Apple, for it is fleeting.

 

[alent1234]

Is there really a question here?

Apple has placed its hype building over making it an easy purchase for buyers. For now some will bend over and accept it, but the day is coming when the android tablets will be as good or better than the iPad, and Apple will not have the rush of power in their bellies that they enjoy today.


Enjoy it Apple, for it is fleeting.

if android for phones is any indication, it's a long way away. people buy android because the phones are a lot cheaper.

 

[Tarzanman]

Nah. It will be sooner than you think. it is important to realize that people use their tablets for gaming, browsing and very light computing.

Thus far, it has only been the hardware making android tablets less featured than apple's tablets because android OS is already on par (or more featured) than IOS.

Will Android tablets be as popular as the ipads? No. The typical person who buy android today do so because they want to buy something that works without getting invested in an eco-system that will cost them more money OR limit their choices down the line.

Apple enthusiasts are definitely more likely to buy toys that they don't need. Tablets are very much still toys that are less useful and more expensive than laptops, and barely more powerful than smart phones.

 

[Nebrie]

One additional reason is that they do seem to like that if you made your way out to an Apple store on launch day, that they don't want you to leave disappointed. Given that online ordering times shot up to 3-5 weeks so quickly suggests that after they estimated how much each store could sell on day one, there wasn't very much left.

 

[kas23]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

Is there really a question here?

Apple has placed its hype building over making it an easy purchase for buyers. For now some will bend over and accept it, but the day is coming when the android tablets will be as good or better than the iPad, and Apple will not have the rush of power in their bellies that they enjoy today.


Enjoy it Apple, for it is fleeting.

if android for phones is any indication, it's a long way away. people buy android because the phones are a lot cheaper.

Really? Cheaper than $49?

Anyways, definitely a PR ploy due to the non-event otherwise known as the Verizon iPhone launch.

No preorders has nothing to do with the limited supply, the FCC, or the number of devices bring offered. Let's get real.

 

[FFR]

I would have agreed with the OP had they launched in the UK, France, Germany. As apple has done with the ipad 1, iphone3g, iphone 3gs, and the iphone 4.
But they didn't.
Do remember that the ipad 2 was just announced last week. I believe it has more to do with supply constraints.

 

[Lotso]

How about because they didn't know if they would have been able to manufacture enough iPads to meet the pre order demand? Instead they opted to produce as many as they possibly could before today and when they run out they run out. Seems logical to me.

 

[Full of Win]

if android for phones is any indication, it's a long way away. people buy android because the phones are a lot cheaper.

Have you priced iPhones vs. Android phones w/ two year contracts?

iPhone: 49.99 - 300.00
Android: Free - 400.00

Yeh, I can see someone about to make a 80$ / per month commitment saying "wow, 49$ thats a little out of my ballpark there, that there is a millionaires phone, how about something cheaper than 49$"

Many get Android phones because they offer the features they want, such as a larger screen, physical keyboard, a smaller size, freedom from Apple Control or better video output. There are several reason, other than one based on price.

 

[TallManNY]

I like the theory that Apple likes the lines. It really was strange to only have one day of online pre-order. I think that doesn't satisfy Apple's marketing needs.

But guys, let's keep in mind that you can't satisfy the initial surge of demand for this many electronic product. These things are hard to make. You can't have enough manufacturing plants available to make 10 million iPads in two weeks without ending up with excess manufacturing when demand slows to a few million a month.

 

[vrDrew]

I'm always amazed when people stand in line all night to see the latest Batman or Star Trek movie. From a rational standpoint it makes much more sense to wait a few weeks, and catch it on a midweek matinee.

But for a lot of people, part of the enjoyment IS standing in line. Hanging out with other people who share the same interests you do.

And I think Apple knows this. And unlike pretty much every other electronics manufacturer out there (apart from, uh, Sony..) they have these wonderful stores where people can go to check out, try, and buy their products.

Sure: Apple could probably have sold out the new iPad's first few weeks of production by letting people pre-order online. But where's the fun in that? An anonymous warehouse worker in Shenzhen tosses a box into a FedEx truck, and four days later a FedEx driver hands it to you? Efficient? Absolutely. But hardly a "magical" experience.

The other thing to remember is the side effect of having a few thousand people walk through the store on the way to get their iPad. Isn't it possible/probably that more than a few might take a look at some of Apple's OTHER products? Maybe they decide to buy a case, or a dock. Maybe they try out an iMac for the first time.