iPad Sells Out: Smart Apple Marketing Boosts Product Demand
On Saturday morning Apple customers noticed something: Preordering or reserving an iPad now wouldn't get you one on launch day, April 3. Many critics are saying it finally proved the outstanding demand for Apple's "magical" machine. However, as my BNet colleague Erik Sherman virtually predicted a couple weeks ago, it is more likely slick, smart marketing on Apple's part.
To quote Fortune:
The demand curve for Apple's (AAPL) new tablet computer crossed the supply curve sometime overnight Friday.
By Saturday morning, the ship date for iPad pre-orders, originally set to guarantee delivery by April 3, had been pushed back to Tuesday April 12.
Customers who had already pre-ordered are still scheduled to get their iPads next Saturday.
Meanwhile, the option to reserve an iPad for pick-up at an Apple Store has disappeared from Apple.com entirely.
That does not mean that there will no iPads available for sale next Saturday. Customers who reserved them over the past two weeks were told at the time that their iPads could be picked up between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday April 3. After 3 p.m., any iPads that haven't been collected may be made available, while supplies last, on a first-come, first-served basis.
It's not clear whether the shortfall is due to strong demand, short supply or both.
There is also a fourth possibility -- Apple is purposely limiting qualities. It makes perfect sense, actually, based on Apple's history:- Apple Limits iPad Quantities to Boost Consumer Demand and Sells 25,000 an Hour: We only need to go back two weeks ago to see BNet's Erik Sherman post breaking down Apple's limited quantities game. "From start to finish, the whole thing has the air of a carefully choreographed PR campaign designed to drive interest in the new product. This is classic Apple."
- Apple has proven it can handle a million-plus units: The best comparison, the iPhone, sold one million 3G iPhones during the 2008 launch weekend while still claiming a shortage. Based on this history, even the estimated 500,000 iPads preordered and reserved thus far can be accommodated.