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Was Apple poor at marketing this time around for iPad 3?

U

UrsaMajor

macrumors regular
Original poster
Today I noticed stores had plenty on hand. Didn't try the apple store. The box is very plain, not much to differentiate between iPad 2.

Do you think apple dropped the ball by the embargo in reviews, till Thursday and hoping for word of mouth?
 
You are insinuating that sales for the new iPad just based on available inventory at a few stores. Have you considered that there were preorders this year (and none last year) and that Apple apparently increased the launch supply tremendously this year?

And, on the box design, I'm pretty sure the box is near the bottom of the list on what sells iPads ...
 
UrsaMajor said:
Today I noticed stores had plenty on hand. Didn't try the apple store. The box is very plain, not much to differentiate between iPad 2.

Do you think apple dropped the ball by the embargo in reviews, till Thursday and hoping for word of mouth?
Click to expand...

No dude, their sales are doing well. I can say that for sure, I regularly check Best Buy inventory for my local area. Throughout the weekend up till now, one by one stores have gone OOS on the iPad.
 
yup i think they did a terrible job with the marketing.

1. the name. hard to differentiate between the other generations.
2. the picture on the box is the same as the ipad 2. at least take a picture at a different angle or something.
 
No I just think that apple is getting better with preparing for releases. Preorders most likely accounted for the majority of the sales. My FedEx guy chuckled and said "I hope you and everyone else in this town enjoys their new iPad".

Why wait in line and chance not getting an iPad when apple will ship one to your door for free on launch day? Needless to say, I think apple did just fine.
 
Best Buy out of stock most models Denver stores

I pre-ordered and I'm glad I did got mine on Friday.

Quick check of the Best Buy website says they are out of almost all models that almost all Denver-area stores.
 
The only thing for them to market is the screen which they are doing. What else can the market?
 
UrsaMajor said:
The box is very plain, not much to differentiate between iPad 2.
Click to expand...

And what do you want out of a box. Me I don't really care as long as it protects whats inside. The third generation iPad box seams to do just that. Besides every place I can think of that sales iPads requires an employee to get the iPad for you so the the box doesn't really matter anyway.
 
Don't believe they were terrible at marketing. I think being a 3rd generation device, some of the novelty has worn off and that their supply was sufficient at launch. Anyone see any initial sales numbers?
 
Hmm... People seem to have a hard time understanding that Apple prepared their launch supply to actually meet the demand. You will see large sale numbers released this week.
 
We have to wait until Apple releases sales figures for the first weekend.

When any company launches a new product, it's goals are to sell as many of them as possible. Inventory on hand really means nothing until we understand sales numbers.

If you manufactured 500 devices, and sold every single one on the first day, that would be good.

If you manufactured 1,000 devices, and sold 800 on the first day, that would be even better (assuming the remaining 200 are sold the 2nd day). It seems though that many view the 200 still in stock as a bad thing.

Of course, my example goes out the window if Apple comes back and reports lower first weekend sales on iPad 3rd gen than they had for iPad 2...
 
I wish Apple release the sale numbers to shut some of these people up. Just because people aren't running from store to store looking for a new iPad doesn't mean its not selling well. 🙄
 
Seems like there is much better supply this time. That and the massive amount of pre-sales because of all the shortages last time. With all the talk of Apple iPad shipments tying up every cargo plane from China for weeks I think they made a lot more this time so everyone who wants one can have one and they could open in many countries simultaneously.

I think Apple did a great job. I hope they continue to do so with future releases.

Even so, I did speak to a person who doesn't really buy much tech but felt as an outside observer that the Apple faithful would feel disappointed there were no long lines (almost like they're being cheated out of the experience of waiting all night and day to get the new gadget). Perhaps that's what the OP is feeling.

The cynical part of me even thinks Apple used to hold back inventory to create the massive scarcity so the media would focus on the mad search for the new Apple "product x".

Regardless I think we're starting to see the beginning of the "new" Apple where enough product exists so that everyone who wants to buy one will be able to on launch day.

I personally prefer such an approach and look forward to an awesome, readily available 4.5" iPhone this fall. 🙂

Cheers,
 
richpjr said:
Don't believe they were terrible at marketing. I think being a 3rd generation device, some of the novelty has worn off and that their supply was sufficient at launch. Anyone see any initial sales numbers?
Click to expand...

I work at a retail store. Last year we received 170 iPads in total. This year we received 422 in total. We have ~200 left. We have a lot of boxes left obviously, but have sold more then last year.
 
Dobbs2 said:
I work at a retail store. Last year we received 170 iPads in total. This year we received 422 in total. We have ~200 left. We have a lot of boxes left obviously, but have sold more then last year.
Click to expand...

But even though you sold 52 more than last year, because you didn't sell out people will claim that this launch was a bust. No, it doesn't make sense.

The thing to remember, too, is that last year, you sold the 170, and then sold next to nothing for the next few weeks until the stock levels returned. Now it's likely that by the time you sell the remaining 200, the next shipment will have arrived. That will increase the sales.
 
Beachguy said:
Personally, I find the packaging understated and attractive. No hype, just a clean design.
Click to expand...

I agree. No robots, transformers, or lightning bolts needed to sell Apple products. Apple does dumb stuff such as showing how their products work and what you can accomplish with them. 🙂
 
UrsaMajor said:
Today I noticed stores had plenty on hand. Didn't try the apple store. The box is very plain, not much to differentiate between iPad 2.

Do you think apple dropped the ball by the embargo in reviews, till Thursday and hoping for word of mouth?
Click to expand...

No boxes on display here.

I would still buy it even if it came in a brown paper bag. 😎
 
KPOM said:
But even though you sold 52 more than last year, because you didn't sell out people will claim that this launch was a bust. No, it doesn't make sense.

The thing to remember, too, is that last year, you sold the 170, and then sold next to nothing for the next few weeks until the stock levels returned. Now it's likely that by the time you sell the remaining 200, the next shipment will have arrived. That will increase the sales.
Click to expand...

Im not complaining. I had nice pleasant customer experiences instead of crazy Black Friday crowds and still sold more then last year.
 
Apple did a great job with this launch. The effort to have ample inventory really paid off. You'll see when & if Apple makes an announcement regarding sales volume. This is the best launch I've witnessed in years.
 
I guarantee you there have been more iPads sold at this point, four days after launch day, than last year. The low inventory is great for making headlines, and lines at the Apple stores, but this way puts more iPads in the hands of paying customers than the other method. Now there could be a backlash from this process, because the public demand isn't being created by the lack of supply. Basically I think Apple is relying on public demand being created by the quality of the product, rather than the lack of its availability. And as an Apple fan, I agree with this method.
 
KPOM said:
But even though you sold 52 more than last year, because you didn't sell out people will claim that this launch was a bust. No, it doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Who cares what people claim? It's not going to stop people from buying more iPads, do you know anyone who thinks to themselves "I was going to get one, but now that I heard they didn't sell out on the opening day, I'm not so sure."? Uh, no. The numbers at the end of the quarter or year when the sales are totaled up are what matters, and they won't lie.
 
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