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Apple is facing major supply issues with the new iPad 2, with some customers having to wait 4 to 5 weeks for delivery. Apple has had shortage issues in the past with the second generation iPhone 3G for more than a month and up to 3 weeks on the Iphone 4 according to reports from NPD Group.
According to Stephen Baker, an analyst with retail research firm NPD Group, compared the shortage to the iPhone 3G situation. Most customers would rather hold out for the second generation of the product after the flaws have been resolved on the first generation as was the case with the first iPhone.
According to Brian Marshall of Gleacher & Co., the shortage is due to the “tremendous demand” for the Ipad 2. Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, agreed with Marshall and added the disaster in Japan is not effecting delivery of the iPad 2. Alexander also anticipated these issues when they heard only 100 iPads would be available in each store.
Marshall also finds it interesting that Apple has not released sales figures on the iPad 2 since launch. Typically Apple likes to show those numbers off, such as it did after launch last year when 300,000 were sold on the first day of sales.
According to Reuters, the launch of the iPad 2 will be postponed in Japan while the country focuses on recovering from the recent disaster.
Did Apple announce the iPad 2 too early because of the XOOM announcement? Is this why they are having supply issues?
Tell us what you think about this situation
read more at Computerworld
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do you think apple actually plans to under-produce new releases in order to add to the hype? it seems like this happens every time any more…
I’m thinking they have an idea what inventory they have before the announcement. knowing what you sold last year (day one) would be a good indication as to what you would do this year.
that’s just my take
I think the shortages are because its a fantastic device and everyone wants to get one. I’m typing on a white ATT 64 gb version right now and I love it. My laptop has been gathering dust this past week ever since I got mines on Monday. Also, this is a much bigger upgrade than the iPad 1, I didn’t think the new version would be that big of a deal, but it is, the screen is clearer and brighter than before, its also much faster and the thinness of it is truly amazing. Its slightly thinner than a Maxim mazagine. Also the battery last all day on heavy use, I got 9 hours of it with bluetooth on, wifi streaming of pandora and netflix, game playing and internet surfing. With average use, you can probably do roughly 2 days. Yesterday I still had a 55% charge by midnight with moderate use. Name me one tablet out there that can even come close.
I’m with ya Nikk…I think they don’t expect to have blow out sales and it’s honestly just b/c of more and more people wanting their products…just me though.
They are having supply issues because they are the only person making them!
Others don’t have that issue because there are 4 or 5 companies who have different models all running the same OS so there is no reason to buy one manufacturer over another.
Moto had the same issues with the Xoom but it has eased due to the fact that people know there will be other options available that have that same honeycomb system and the hardware will have pretty much the same features. Some will also be cheaper too!
But there are not any other manufacturers making an iOS device.
So therefore they don’t have that extra manufacturing capacity to ramp up and meet demand.
@Asphyx, actually i have to disagree on that as foxxcon is not the only one making, them there r a couple of companies in china producing them. Yes they are according to apples specs but still if u have a couple of manufacturers producing for u it should not come to such a shortage no matter how many u sell so i personally agree with the hype theory
@vistazifta,
The issue is EVERYONE who wants an iOS device has to get that model. It is hard to keep up with that kind of demand.
But with the Xoom and other Android’s being 1) more expensive and 2) lots more options, There isn’t a run on any specific manufacturing setup.
Is there some hype involved? Yes!
They got some more press than they would have if they had plenty of stock!
but the bottom line is because they are using their own design and own proprietary parts it is much harder to ramp up production than say an Android device which is much less proprietary than iPad.
All are very good points. I am not downing apple, I more so am referring to all companies in a group. I wonder if there is any strategy to try and create a false “shortage” by manufacturers in order to increase back orders and sales over the long run. When I bought my Evo, the only thing that Spint was talking about was that fact that it was sooo hard to get. When the average Joe hears that, they think it must be good, everyone wants it.
BTW, the ipad2 is the first apple product I have ever considered buying, and I have yet to lay a hand on one. For once, they are actually priced rather attractively compared to the competition.
@gregjuice,
Maybe it has some hype to it but that is a double edged sword.
While someone who wants a pad is ready to buy if they can’t get that unit they may opt for another.
You will only retain that sale if the person insists on it being iOS.
And if thats the case then you didn’t really generate any more sales than you already had so what would be the point?
Just sell them one and hope they will show it to someone who does want one and can actually get it due to the fact there are no false hype based shortages.
@gregjuice,
I think there is more to it. I know a lot of people, including myself, skipped out on the ipad 1 because we didn’t want the first version of a product and so we waited for the ipad 2. Also, the tabs coming out by the competition are more expensive and they all suck, especially since there are only like 20 Android tablet apps while ipad has thousands. If your in the market for a tablet, the iPad 2 would be like logical choice. The only ones going for the Moto and Samsung are the die-hard Apple haters. I heard Apple sold 600,000 ipad 2’s in the first day, that’s about 599,996 more than the Xoom sales.
@NIKKG, um..the new Galaxy Tabs are priced same as the ipad2..and I don’t see why the big deal with Apps as the apps work across the board..aka all Android apps will run on the Tabs…those 20 apps are most likely tablet specific apps like 2 player on 1 tablet kind…aka the number of tablet specific apps is irrelevant..
@gTen,
Go take a ipad and run iphone apps on it, they will look real crappy. ipad specific apps running on a ipad look a whole lot better and have more features. The same is probably true of android phone apps working on an android tablet, they will look nasty too thus you need android tablet apps instead of the ones written for phones.
Are you seriously going to compare a Samsung tab to an ipad 2? Even the head of Samsung stated his tab sucks compared to Apples.
@NIKKG, so..just because iphone apps look bad on the ipad your automatically assuming android apps look bad on tablets as well?
ipad: 1024×768
iphone resolution: 480×320
iphone4 resolution: 960×640
see the thing about the ipad is it has a different aspect ratio from the iphone..and most apps that were programmed did not account for different resolutions..Android on other hand dealt with different resolutions since day one..thus most apps should work fine..
And you missed what Samsung said..they said that the ipad2 was priced less and thinner then they expect and as is would be hard to beat..so what did they do? they lowered the price and made the device thinner…
so please stop taking things out of context…