Sales

Fourth-gen LTE iPads reaching Apple Stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Making good on its promise, Apple has started stocking its U.S. retail outlets with cellular versions of the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display. According to web reports, Apple yesterday instructed its retail staff to stock these units and to wait until Mothership instructs them to begin sales because a launch date has not yet been communicated.

By all accounts, the company should officially start selling these tomorrow, November 16. In a media release announcing opening weekend sales of three million iPads, Apple noted that cellular versions of both the iPad mini and the fourth-generation model will be available in the US on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon "in a few weeks"...

First LTE iPad mini pre-orders are now en route to US customers

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2012

During the September 12 iPad mini unveiling Apple vaguely indicated that the Wi-Fi + Cellular model would start shipping “a couple of weeks after the Wi-Fi models”. Then, when it started accepting pre-orders and announced opening weekend sales of three million iPads, the company reiterated that the cellular version of both the fourth-gen iPad and the smaller one will be available in the US on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon “in a few weeks”.

We’re now receiving reports that some customers who pre-ordered a Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad mini are receiving shipping notices from their courier service. Many are seeing delivery dates of this Friday, November 16, or the following Monday, with some deliveries reportedly set for as early as tomorrow, November 15...

Apple launches 2012 Holiday Gift Guide

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2012

With winter holidays upon us, Apple has now launched its official Holiday Gift Guide for this year. A special page on the company's web site is now live, highlighting a range of first and third-party gadgets and accessories that Apple hopes might be a nice guideline for those on the lookout for perfect holiday gift.

The main four sections group products according to Apple's major product lineups: iPad gifts, Mac gifts, iPhone gifts and iPod gifts. Fender's iOS-friendly Stratocaster guitar Cody told you about yesterday (an Apple Store exclusive) is among the listed products, as is the Nike+ FuelBand wrist band accessory, Parrot's AR Drone and many other gadgets...

iPhone 5 shipping estimates improve to 2-3 weeks

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2012

Availability of the iPhone 5 is finally improving as Apple, its suppliers and contract manufacturers bind forces to improve manufacturing yield rates. When Apple in September started accepting online pre-orders for the device, shipping times quoted on the online Apple Store fell to 3-4 weeks within 45 minutes.

Availability would not improve until today. Now, after admitting to falling behind the iPhone 5 demand, Apple's contract manufacturer Foxconn has been hard at work with suppliers like Sharp to remove bottlenecks. Analysts who last week surveyed over a hundred Apple Stores, found out the device could be consistently available within 2 to 3 weeks.

We're happy to report that today, estimated shipping times for new iPhone 5 orders on the online Apple store dropped to 2-3 weeks, another sign of the iPhone maker and its supply chain slowly beginning to catch up to strong demand for the popular device...

Ballmer qualifies Surface sales as ‘modest’, but there’s a huge opportunity

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

For all the talk about the Surface - and we've said some nice things about it - Microsoft's foray into big league tablet computing has been marred with teething problems and lackluster sales. Arriving in a crowded tablet market on October 26, the Surface was praised for its industrial design and build quality as it was panned for its resource-hungry and buggy OS and insufficient third-party software.

The software maker did not release exact sales data and its CEO Steve Ballmer is dogging such questions in absence of a milestone like Apple's three million tablet sales in three days. In an interview with a French newspaper, Ballmer qualified the beginning of the Surface sales as "modest", which probably means way worse than expected...

Apple catching up to iPhone 5 demand at US Apple Stores

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 9, 2012

After Foxconn admitted to falling behind iPhone 5 orders, it seems that supply of Apple's popular handset is finally catching up with demand. That's the word from one veteran Apple watcher who told investors Friday that inventory of the smartphone at Apple's brick-and-mortar stores are at their highest level yet. For the first time, availability of iPhone 5 models for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint customers topped 20 percent.

The iPhone 5 version for Sprint remains the most available, with 84 percent of Apple Stores reporting inventory for that model. The AT&T version followed with 54 percent and Verizon with 24 percent, according to a Wall Street survey conducted by Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster...

Analyst: iPhone 5 availability improving, 46.5M iPhones sales in December

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 8, 2012

The future is looking up for consumers hoping to lay their hands on an iPhone 5. After doubts arose over whether suppliers could meet high demand for Apple's new handset, a Wall Street observer told investors Thursday the situation has "much improved" since September. Stern Agee analyst Shaw Wu believes the Cupertino, California company will sell 46.5 million smartphones in the December quarter, a huge increase from September's 26.9 million iPhones shipped...

iPad mini sells out in 2 hours at 5th Avenue store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

The iPad mini went on sale this morning in 34 countries and it looks to be off to a pretty solid start. Now, much ado is being made about lines not being as long as during past product launches. This is understandable: after all, the iPad mini launch is somewhat subdued because of the fallout from Hurricane Sandy. Still, eager fans reportedly visit flagship Apple stores in considerable numbers to pick up the new device which most reviewers deemed an attractive buy.

In New york, in about two hours the iPad mini sold out at Apple's flagship Manhattan store on the Fifth Avenue. In case you'be been wondering about the headcount, Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports of more than 800 customers standing in the line by the time the 10am countdown began. So much about "disappointing crowds"...

The iPad mini begins its world tour launch in 34 countries, check out line videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

As promised, on Friday the new 7.9-inch iPad and a retooled fourth-generation iPad with Retina display both went on sale in what goes down in history as Apple's broadest and deepest iPad launch ever. The initial pre-order stock was sold out within hours a week ago, with expectation that the smaller iPad will move 1.5 million units during the weekend.

According to first reports, the launch drew shorter lines than for previous iPad launches, with places like Sydney experiencing the familiar lines that stretch for several blocks. Though the turnout wasn't as big as for a new iPhone, you had to stand in line if you wanted to buy the iPad mini at an Apple store. We've got some pretty nice launch videos right below the fold...

The iPad mini means ‘very tough’ holiday for Windows 8 sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 2, 2012

Yes, the iPad mini is indeed going to be competitors' worst nightmare. But Apple's new 7.9-inch tablet won't be terrorizing Android tablets as much as the last vestiges of PCs - many now with Microsoft's new Windows 8. On the eve of sales of Apple smaller tablet, the Sterne Agee analyst said Apple has its bulls-eye on PCs and Windows. Clarifying his earlier "nightmare" comment, Wu said observers who believe the new device is chiefly aimed at Android tablets such as Amazon's Kindle Fire HD or Google's Nexus 7 "miss the point"...

First unboxing images of iPad mini hit the web

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2012

Apple originally promised to ship the 4G LTE cellular version of the iPad mini mid-November. However, following selling out of initial supplies of Wi-Fi models, analysts have warned the company could easily face production issues that could easily affect delivery dates. Multiple web reports now indicate that Apple is in fact removing delivery dates for iPad mini LTE pre-orders.

Some customers are now reporting that the company updated their November 23 shipment date to just "mid-November". Meanwhile, just as first (and largely positive) reviews hit the web, a guy in France has already received his Wi-Fi unit ahead of Friday's official launch and posted a series of unboxing pics...

Fourth-gen iPad orders pushed back one week

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 30, 2012

Deliveries of orders of the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display have been postponed until one week on the online Apple store. This comes just after shipments of the new iPad mini were delayed two weeks following its arrival to stores last week. Both devices became available for pre-order four days ago. 72 hours later, the initial stock of the 16GB iPad mini was sold out. First, the more popular black model was gone and was quickly followed by iPad mini shortages across the board. Both tablets were introduced at Apple's October 23 media event...