First week's supply of iPads - iGone already!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 29 March 2010 10:13

Your IT - Home IT

Those quick enough to pre-order an iPad for its launch week are undoubtedly counting their blessings with the news that delivery of pre-orders has now been pushed back to April 12, likely making consumers who've waited wonder if they might as well just wait for the 3G version to arrive late April instead.

The news of Apple 'selling out' of iPads is all over the Internet, but it's hardly a surprise - first week stocks of any of Apple's items have always been in short supply, with those first to come or order ending up first to be served.

It's the same with those standing in line - be in line first, and your chances of actually securing a Wi-Fi only iPad on launch day go up tremendously, and while reports of people queuing up in from of Apple stores hasn't yet started, we're all sure to hear about them soon enough - especially given the rumours of a 'surprise' gift for those in queue.

Those who have pre-ordered iPads and have signalled they want to pick them up in store apparently have until 3pm on the April 3 launch day (in the US) to collect them, after which time those reserved iPads will go on sale to the general public, forcing those who are late to collect their in-store iPads to wait presumably at least a week longer.

With the launch of Apple's Wi-Fi iPad now less than a week away (in the US) and a strict limit of two iPads per buyer, iPad hype and frenzy has predictably zoomed sky-high, with reports of more than 500,000 iPads already having been ordered, and clearly many more hundreds of thousands and even millions of orders and sales to come. 

That's presumably because much of the initial skepticism over the iPad seems to have dissipated and the potential of the iPad has instead caught the iPad-buying public's imagination.

Sure, there'll be those who are disappointed they have to wait even longer for the 3G and GPS-equipped iPad to appear at the end of the month, and we'll surely see a repeat of the 'sold out' syndrome, as those who waited for 3G then rush to get 3G models which allow Internet access anywhere there's a 3G signal.

How long will the shortages last? Continued on page two, please read on!