Apple sold 3M iPads over launch weekend [u]

1234568

Comments

  • Reply 141 of 170
    recrec Posts: 217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alexkhan2000 View Post


    ...Apple is leveraging its humungous size and scale along with breathtaking speed and proficiency to get the products made in time with the quality that it demands and then delivered in the most cost-effective ways possible to its customers. Apple needs to operate like a little start-up in this industry to stay ahead and Tim Cook and his operations team has somehow figured out how to do so despite its $100+ billion size in a super-fast moving industry. I mean, is anyone really interested in Exxon or Walmart's operations? They're like blue whales or elephants while Apple is like a killer whale, a cheetah and a falcon moving at their top speeds.



    Apple's remarkable logistics and operational excellence often gets overlooked by virtually everyone out there and perhaps that's a good thing. To most people, it's just not that interesting and not worth delving into. But this is Apple's secret (or under-appreciated) weapon and no one in Apple wants to share how they do it. And not enough people would care enough anyway. This weekend's sales of 3 million iPads in 4 days is a good example of what is possible when a company has its operations act together.



    Having too much of a backlog is akin to leaving money on the table. Having too much inventory is pretty bad too. Tech products are like milk; no one wants to buy sour milk. It seems Apple is getting better and better at forecasting demand and that's even more bad news for the competition.



    This is why Apple can survive and do quite well without SJ running the company. If the creative people like Ive are given sufficient freedom internally and the operations people keep running such a smooth ship, this can go on for quite a while even without the visionary at the top.



    Of course that's by design. It's the way SJ designed it to be. He wanted Ive to have special control over vision. He wanted Cook to succeed him and keep Apple running with expert efficiency.



    I know this sort of operational excellence is something that Steve identified as very important for the future a long time ago. During his first stint at Apple, when the Mac was debuting (and later in the late 80's/early 90's at NeXT) he did several interviews where he bragged and talked about the value of JIT (Just In Time) delivery, keeping inventory small and finding ways to make it smaller. I remember he was obsessed with having the capability of predicting a customer's needs and rolling a new computer off the assembly line in the most efficient way possible and then getting that machine to the customer as directly as possible. He seemed particularily interested in this topic and probably sought out people like Cook back then.



    The genesis for this kind of operational excellence is probably over 30 years in the making. You can't just copy this, there's decades worth of experience and relationships to get to this point.
  • Reply 142 of 170
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alexkhan2000 View Post


    One thing that often gets overlooked is Apple's operational excellence compared to other area's of the company's discipline like design, engineering, software development and marketing, etc. I work in the supply chain side of things in a completely different kind of industry and go to Asia (mainly China and Korea) 4~5 times per year, so I can appreciate what's involved in working with the suppliers there and coordinating the development, manufacturing and delivery of products to the customers all around the world.



    When I observe what Apple is doing purely from the supply chain side of things, I'm in absolute awe of their execution from front to end - especially considering how older products are phased out and new products are inserted into a rather huge pipeline. To me, Apple's supply chain management is more interesting than their marketing or engineering operations. And I don't think there is any doubt that Apple manages supply chain better than any other company in the world and that it is the underlying factor in why Apple has been so financially successful.



    To coordinate the production and delivery (in virtual secrecy) of millions of these sophisticated products into the hands of consumers over a weekend is pretty mind-boggling to ponder from a logistics perspective. What Apple is doing makes what I'm doing in the industry that I'm in seem like caveman-primitive in comparison. I wonder how many Apple supply chain employees are based in Asia overseeing the supply chain side of things. It must be in the many hundreds or perhaps well over a thousand. I can't even imagine.



    A great example of Apple's innovation in the supply chain side of things is how the products get delivered to the consumers' doors straight from the factory in Shenzen, China. As Tim Cook famously said, "Inventory is fundamentally evil." Why have expensive warehouse space and overhead in the US when Apple can ship in volume from the factories and warehouses in China with special shipping deals with the likes of FedEx and UPS to have the products delivered straight to the customers' doors? Even an HP operations manager said that it was an "Oh, s$*t!" moment when he ordered an iPod and saw it being shipped to his door from China.



    Apple is leveraging its humungous size and scale along with breathtaking speed and proficiency to get the products made in time with the quality that it demands and then delivered in the most cost-effective ways possible to its customers. Apple needs to operate like a little start-up in this industry to stay ahead and Tim Cook and his operations team has somehow figured out how to do so despite its $100+ billion size in a super-fast moving industry. I mean, is anyone really interested in Exxon or Walmart's operations? They're like blue whales or elephants while Apple is like a killer whale, a cheetah and a falcon moving at their top speeds.



    Apple's remarkable logistics and operational excellence often gets overlooked by virtually everyone out there and perhaps that's a good thing. To most people, it's just not that interesting and not worth delving into. But this is Apple's secret (or under-appreciated) weapon and no one in Apple wants to share how they do it. And not enough people would care enough anyway. This weekend's sales of 3 million iPads in 4 days is a good example of what is possible when a company has its operations act together.



    Having too much of a backlog is akin to leaving money on the table. Having too much inventory is pretty bad too. Tech products are like milk; no one wants to buy sour milk. It seems Apple is getting better and better at forecasting demand and that's even more bad news for the competition.



    Jeeze... A post like this in the dying embers of a forum thread...



    Going to bed now, but I am so glad I read this post!
  • Reply 143 of 170
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by REC View Post


    This is why Apple can survive and do quite well without SJ running the company. If the creative people like Ive are given sufficient freedom internally and the operations people keep running such a smooth ship, this can go on for quite a while even without the visionary at the top.



    Of course that's by design. It's the way SJ designed it to be. He wanted Ive to have special control over vision. He wanted Cook to succeed him and keep Apple running with expert efficiency.



    I know this sort of operational excellence is something that Steve identified as very important for the future a long time ago. During his first stint at Apple, when the Mac was debuting (and later in the late 80's/early 90's at NeXT) he did several interviews where he bragged and talked about the value of JIT (Just In Time) delivery, keeping inventory small and finding ways to make it smaller. I remember he was obsessed with having the capability of predicting a customer's needs and rolling a new computer off the assembly line in the most efficient way possible and then getting that machine to the customer as directly as possible. He seemed particularily interested in this topic and probably sought out people like Cook back then.



    The genesis for this kind of operational excellence is probably over 30 years in the making. You can't just copy this, there's decades worth of experience and relationships to get to this point.



    Yes... And you need the experience of failing... Of doing it all wrong -- or you'll never have a prayer of getting it right!
  • Reply 144 of 170
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alexkhan2000 View Post


    One thing that often gets overlooked is Apple's operational excellence compared to other area's of the company's discipline like design, engineering, software development and marketing, etc. I work in the supply chain side of things in a completely different kind of industry and go to Asia (mainly China and Korea) 4~5 times per year, so I can appreciate what's involved in working with the suppliers there and coordinating the development, manufacturing and delivery of products to the customers all around the world.



    When I observe what Apple is doing purely from the supply chain side of things, I'm in absolute awe of their execution from front to end - especially considering how older products are phased out and new products are inserted into a rather huge pipeline. To me, Apple's supply chain management is more interesting than their marketing or engineering operations. And I don't think there is any doubt that Apple manages supply chain better than any other company in the world and that it is the underlying factor in why Apple has been so financially successful.



    To coordinate the production and delivery (in virtual secrecy) of millions of these sophisticated products into the hands of consumers over a weekend is pretty mind-boggling to ponder from a logistics perspective. What Apple is doing makes what I'm doing in the industry that I'm in seem like caveman-primitive in comparison. I wonder how many Apple supply chain employees are based in Asia overseeing the supply chain side of things. It must be in the many hundreds or perhaps well over a thousand. I can't even imagine.



    A great example of Apple's innovation in the supply chain side of things is how the products get delivered to the consumers' doors straight from the factory in Shenzen, China. As Tim Cook famously said, "Inventory is fundamentally evil." Why have expensive warehouse space and overhead in the US when Apple can ship in volume from the factories and warehouses in China with special shipping deals with the likes of FedEx and UPS to have the products delivered straight to the customers' doors? Even an HP operations manager said that it was an "Oh, s$*t!" moment when he ordered an iPod and saw it being shipped to his door from China.



    Apple is leveraging its humungous size and scale along with breathtaking speed and proficiency to get the products made in time with the quality that it demands and then delivered in the most cost-effective ways possible to its customers. Apple needs to operate like a little start-up in this industry to stay ahead and Tim Cook and his operations team has somehow figured out how to do so despite its $100+ billion size in a super-fast moving industry. I mean, is anyone really interested in Exxon or Walmart's operations? They're like blue whales or elephants while Apple is like a killer whale, a cheetah and a falcon moving at their top speeds.



    Apple's remarkable logistics and operational excellence often gets overlooked by virtually everyone out there and perhaps that's a good thing. To most people, it's just not that interesting and not worth delving into. But this is Apple's secret (or under-appreciated) weapon and no one in Apple wants to share how they do it. And not enough people would care enough anyway. This weekend's sales of 3 million iPads in 4 days is a good example of what is possible when a company has its operations act together.



    Having too much of a backlog is akin to leaving money on the table. Having too much inventory is pretty bad too. Tech products are like milk; no one wants to buy sour milk. It seems Apple is getting better and better at forecasting demand and that's even more bad news for the competition.



    Awesome post, thanks, I enjoyed reading it. Yeah, it's incredible how much Apple has it's shit together compared to.. well, everyone else. So many fully functional, final product were unveiled at CES recently, and when reps were asked about launch dates, it tended to be 'uuhh, sometime in the next few months' like deer in headlights. No price, launch countries, nothing. Maybe they give themselves leeway to cancel the product at the last second or something if need be. Meanwhile, Apple no doubt nailed down firm launch day supply #s and began manufacturing months ago, so by the time the product is unveiled, millions have been manufactured, are being shipped around the world to dozens of countries, and you can have it in your hands a week later. They're just completely on another level with this shit, and make every other company look like amateur-hour. For a moment I thought maybe the sales of the new iPad would be underwhelming, because I literally walked into an Apple Store in the middle of the launch day and picked one up in 5 min- the iPad 2 was out of stock for ages. No lineups, nothing. It just seemed so.. lowkey. Turns out they tripled launch numbers, smashed all records, and the experience was smoother cause they had a shitload of supply. This stuff isn't simple, and Apple makes it look easy but it's anything but. It just so happens they're in a league of their own when it comes to the supply chain, just like every other aspect of the company from innovation, to engineering, to hardware design, to software, to marketing, to financial responsibility, etc.
  • Reply 145 of 170
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    Not a troll I have one myself and I could easily live with out, so could most people who buy one. Sure, some companys and business people have found value in using it as a tool but that is a very, very small percentage. So ok, the iPad is mostly, hows that, is mostly a toy for those who buy one, especially for those on this board.



    The question is; What do you REALLY need?



    The answer is; Very little of the stuff you have.



    The truth is that most of what we buy, we don't really need, and that includes computers, cell phones, and a lot more stuff that we convince ourselves we do need. For most people with cars, the same situation applies. Most people with cars swear that they need them, but they don't.



    If the question is about what you want, then the answer is very different. I find the iPad to be extremely useful. A friend who is not exactly a computer wiz told me, after having used mine a few times, that it was the best invention, ever. An exaggeration by him, of course, but most people who use it express a delight that they don't have for much else, and a number of them have subsequently bought one of their own.



    You can be a cynic, but this is going to change computing and communications a fair amount over the next few years, and then, people won't be asking the silly question of whether we need one or not.



    The same question was asked about the telephone in the 1880’s. The answer was clear, yes, we did.
  • Reply 146 of 170
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Alfiejr View Post


    the weekend number 3 million is indeed impressive. but a significant factor has to be the much expanded day 1 global sales launch in a dozen major markets. with two dozen more to come next week. comparing just US sales only to the the last two years' launches of iPad 1 and 2 would be very informative about its absolute growth in popularity in just a single market (but Apple won't release those figures anyway). but then Apple's global sales expansion is a big reason for the its huge growth of the last few years overall - maybe THE biggest reason. so i'm not saying that don't count ...



    and one also has to wonder how many "pre-sales" aren't even included in that total. does that mean only the ordered iPads that haven't shipped/been delivered yet? is it 1 million more? more? less? Apple is so damn closed mouth.



    if Foxconn was assembling 5 million a month (last quarter's iPad 2 sales rate) starting in February they should have made 5-10 million by now. they must all be committed to overseas markets, hence the two week delay in shipping orders from the Apple Store. i just walked in and bought one on the spot yesterday, so there is plenty of inventory in the retail stores, for the moment at least.



    Apple is much more open about this than any other company. They tell us how many have been sold. They tell us how many days supply is in the channel. No one else does that. At best, we get a shipped number. Other companies, such as Samsung, don't even tell us how many they ship, leaving the numbers to be estimated by others who have no idea of the real ones.



    We find out that all of those numbers about others are wrong, on the high side, and actually pretty far off when useage info comes out.



    So we get numbers that state the iPad has a 60% marketshare, when it's closer to 80%, etc.



    Look to Apple as a shining example of openness in giving sales numbers.
  • Reply 147 of 170
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    Apple is much more open about this than any other company. They tell us how many have been sold. They tell us how many days supply is in the channel. No one else does that. At best, we get a shipped number. Other companies, such as Samsung, don't even tell us how many they ship, leaving the numbers to be estimated by others who have no idea of the real ones.



    We find out that all of those numbers about others are wrong, on the high side, and actually pretty far off when useage info comes out.



    So we get numbers that state the iPad has a 60% marketshare, when it's closer to 80%, etc.



    Look to Apple as a shining example of openness in giving sales numbers.



    No one else but Samsung will define their sales as "quite smooth."
  • Reply 148 of 170
    tony12tony12 Posts: 31member
    Amazing!

    Im just upgrade my iPad 1 to the New iPad, want to know there are how many are same as me --- upgrade from the 1gen iPad?
  • Reply 149 of 170
    aiaaia Posts: 181member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    I am very happy with the new iPad numbers as a user and a shareholder.



    As far as the dividend/buyback announcement -- I was hoping for at least a 10:1 split, too.



    I wanted the split to set up some investment accounts for the grandkids -- $60 per share provides a lot more room to maneuver/experiment/fail/learn than $600 per share.



    The grandkids all have savings accounts -- but that's not investing... It's just setting money aside for a later purchase...



    My 16-year-old granddaughter is saving for a car and taking online driving lessons...





    Speaking of young girls taking driving lessons, I found this YT clip from a show that was on HUB late last night:




    I'm also hoping for a split, mainly because it will make it easier to sell covered calls.
  • Reply 150 of 170
    thomprthompr Posts: 1,521member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Freshmaker View Post


    I keep thinking it's a good time to sell mine, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I mean, there's gotta be a correction at some point, right? Right? It's been on an incredible run this year.



    This *is* the correction.



    Thompson
  • Reply 151 of 170
    aiaaia Posts: 181member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tony12 View Post


    Amazing!

    Im just upgrade my iPad 1 to the New iPad, want to know there are how many are same as me --- upgrade from the 1gen iPad?



    I'm in the same boat as you *were* - I plan to upgrade but it's not yet being sold where I live.
  • Reply 152 of 170
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thompr View Post


    This *is* the correction.



    Thompson



    QFT
  • Reply 153 of 170
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    But he said, "aren't shipped". Typically the sale hasn't taken place until the unit is prepared for shipping at which point the sale has been charged to your account then that would be counted. I would expect any pre-ordered that have not collected fees and can be easily canceled without having to do a chargeback as not being counted.



    I think you're spot-on Soli. Apple won't count the sale until the payment is assured and title transferred, and that generally happens when it's shipped. To be technical tho, I'm certain Apple counted a sale for every iPad sent to ATT, Walmart, etc, whether it actually made it to an end-user's hands yet or not. These aren't all consumer purchases yet. Give it another couple of days.
  • Reply 154 of 170
    nairbnairb Posts: 253member
    These sales figures are neither exciting nor interesting. I think they are on par with expectiations.



    What I would be really interested in is sales numbers for the iPad2 now the price has been dropped. People who would settle for a new iPad2 are the ones who are more likely to buy an Android tablet but have gone for a "cheaper" iPad instead.



    I know one guy in a small tech shop and he says iPad2 sales have been strong since the announcement of iPad3.
  • Reply 155 of 170
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nairb View Post


    These sales figures are neither exciting nor interesting. I think they are on par with expectiations.



    What I would be really interested in is sales numbers for the iPad2 now the price has been dropped. People who would settle for a new iPad2 are the ones who are more likely to buy an Android tablet but have gone for a "cheaper" iPad instead.



    I know one guy in a small tech shop and he says iPad2 sales have been strong since the announcement of iPad3.



    Shoot Apple could've announced 5M sold and some would proclaim it no big deal or disappointing.
  • Reply 156 of 170
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alexkhan2000 View Post


    One thing that often gets overlooked is Apple's operational excellence compared to other areas of the company's discipline like design, engineering, software development and marketing, etc. I work in the supply chain side of things in a completely different kind of industry and go to Asia (mainly China and Korea) 4~5 times per year, so I can appreciate what's involved in working with the suppliers there and coordinating the development, manufacturing and delivery of products to the customers all around the world.



    When I observe what Apple is doing purely from the supply chain side of things, I'm in absolute awe of their execution from front to end - especially considering how older products are phased out and new products are inserted into a rather huge pipeline. To me, Apple's supply chain management is more interesting than their marketing or engineering operations. And I don't think there is any doubt that Apple manages supply chain better than any other company in the world and that it is the underlying factor in why Apple has been so financially successful.



    To coordinate the production and delivery (in virtual secrecy) of millions of these sophisticated products into the hands of consumers over a weekend is pretty mind-boggling to ponder from a logistics perspective. What Apple is doing makes what I'm doing in the industry that I'm in seem like caveman-primitive in comparison. I wonder how many Apple operations employees are based in Asia overseeing the supply chain side of things. It must be in the many hundreds or perhaps well over a thousand. I can't even imagine.



    A great example of Apple's innovation in the supply chain side of things is how the products get delivered to the consumers' doors straight from the factory in Shenzen, China. As Tim Cook famously said, "Inventory is fundamentally evil." Why have expensive warehouse space and overhead in the US when Apple can ship in volume from the factories and warehouses in China with special shipping deals with the likes of FedEx and UPS to have the products delivered straight to the customers' doors? Even an HP operations manager said that it was an "Oh, s$*t!" moment when he ordered an iPod and saw it being shipped to his door from China.



    Apple is leveraging its humungous size and scale along with breathtaking speed and proficiency to get the products made in time with the quality that it demands and then delivered in the most cost-effective ways possible to its customers. Apple needs to operate like a little start-up in this industry to stay ahead and Tim Cook and his operations team has somehow figured out how to do so despite its $100+ billion size in a super-fast moving industry. I mean, is anyone really interested in Exxon or Walmart's operations? They're like blue whales or elephants while Apple is like a killer whale, a cheetah and a falcon moving at their top speeds.



    Apple's remarkable logistics and operational excellence often gets overlooked by virtually everyone out there and perhaps that's a good thing. To most people, it's just not that interesting and not worth delving into. But this is Apple's secret (or under-appreciated) weapon and no one in Apple wants to share how they do it. And not enough people would care enough anyway. This weekend's sales of 3 million iPads in 4 days is a good example of what is possible when a company has its operations act together.



    Having too much of a backlog is akin to leaving money on the table. Having too much inventory is pretty bad too. Tech products are like milk; no one wants to buy sour milk. It seems Apple is getting better and better at forecasting demand and that's even more bad news for the competition.



    Apple efficiency is nothing compared to Google. Here the proof:



  • Reply 157 of 170
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    I think it's silly to upgrade from a iPad 2 to a new iPad 3 uh iPad. But at the end of the day it's just a toy. So if a new toy will bring happines in your life then so be it, buy one. However do not pretend one bit that you need a new one of course not the previous model is a more then capable tablet. You want one because of the hype.



    Yeah, we get it. Anger and jealousy must be a hard road.



    Does your username by chance describe your way of thinking?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    Not a troll



    When you have to add this disclaimer, guess what you're being.
  • Reply 158 of 170
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Apple efficiency is nothing compared to Google. Here the proof:







    Add Starbucks New Evolution Juice Bar to the spelling impaired. This one is kind of a biggie:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1363436.html



    EDIT: Probably rare, but even Apple's website could benefit from a simple spell-check:

    http://www.madhatt.com/index.php/12-...apples-website



    Proper spelling just doesn't appear to be as important as it once was IMO.
  • Reply 159 of 170
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Add Starbucks New Evolution Juice Bar to the spelling impaired. This one is kind of a biggie:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1363436.html



    EDIT: Probably rare, but even Apple's website could benefit from a simple spell-check:

    http://www.madhatt.com/index.php/12-...apples-website



    Proper spelling just doesn't appear to be as important as it once was IMO.



    I still don't see any one of your links beat the Google though (and I know you'd tried very hard to find, hey hey).

    Google the King of Efficiency!
  • Reply 160 of 170
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cy_starkman View Post


    Really? I haven't tried the new iPad yet but the 4s is just as woeful at dictation as is every other device I have attempted it on since oh, 1991.



    Then maybe you should learn proper grammar and pronunciation.
Sign In or Register to comment.