Lines for launch of Apple's new iPad declared 'better than expected'

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014


Lines for the new iPad in New York City were declared "better than expected" on Friday, considering Apple began accepting preorders online more than a week ago.



Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray counted the number of people in line Friday at Apple's stores in New York City, and found that the crowds were smaller than last year's iPad 2 launch. But last year's launch came later in the day, at 5 p.m., and Apple also didn't take iPad 2 pre-orders in 2011.



Munster counted 750 people in line at the flagship Fifth Avenue Store, compared to 1,190 for the iPad 2 last year. In addition to the pre-orders and earlier start time, he said the new Grand Central Terminal Apple Store probably took some traffic away from the glass cube on Fifth Avenue.



Munster has maintained his prediction that Apple will sell a million units on launch day, including pre-orders. He expects Apple to announce that figure next week, on Monday.



"We believe this would imply iPad units slightly ahead of the Street at 10.2 million for the March quarter," he said in a note to investors on Friday.





Fifth Ave opening for new iPad launch. Video credit to AppleInsider reader Ryan.







Customers who order a new iPad from Apple's online store will wait an estimated two to three weeks before their order ships. The launch of the new iPad has been Apple's largest product roll-out ever, as sales began on Friday in a total of 10 countries.



Munster believes that Apple will sell 60 million iPads this year, with sales growing to 86.5 million in 2013, 122 million in 2014, and 176 million by calendar year 2015. In the coming years, he expects that Apple will continue to maintain majority market share of the tablet space, and he also believes that Apple will release a smaller, sub-$300 iPad in 2013.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 69
    samwellsamwell Posts: 78member
    Radio Shack had 10, and no line.
  • Reply 2 of 69
    oomuoomu Posts: 130member
    no line for me



    I just ordered it.
  • Reply 3 of 69
    Now I'm thinking that maybe I should have braved the stores... FedEx says it's on the truck, out for delivery... BUT there is a delivery exception to "future delivery," so it has only a half red bar on "in transit." AND expected delivery has been charged from "by 3:00 PM" to "by 10:00 PM."
  • Reply 4 of 69
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Lines for the new iPad in New York City were declared "better than expected" on Friday, considering Apple began accepting preorders online more than a week ago.



    Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray counted the number of people in line Friday at Apple's stores in New York City, and found that the crowds were smaller than last year's iPad 2 launch. But last year's launch came later in the day, at 5 p.m., and Apple also didn't take iPad 2 pre-orders in 2011.



    So, IOW, Munster's opinion is worthless. He has no basis for claiming that it's better, the worse, or the same as last year.
  • Reply 5 of 69
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    The whole 'standing in line thing' appeared to have some merit with the introduction of the original iPhone and (to a lesser extent) the original iPad, as they were pretty 'ground-breaking' efforts, but now that we're all well aware that these devices are going to manufactured in the tens-of-millions, and easily available via several on-line retailers, it all seems rather ridiculous and even a bit disturbing.



    Oh Welll... Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my (pre-ordered) 'new iPad' 64/LTE!



    (... though I do have concerns over how large these 'new iPad' optimized apps are looking).



  • Reply 6 of 69
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ClassicGuy View Post


    Now I'm thinking that maybe I should have braved the stores... FedEx says it's on the truck, out for delivery... BUT there is a delivery exception to "future delivery," so it has only a half red bar on "in transit." AND expected delivery has been charged from "by 3:00 PM" to "by 10:00 PM."



    That's what mine says. At first I thought that maybe the doorman wasn't there to sign for it. However, I think since it updated exactly at 9:00am it was pre-programmed. On mine, it said it was on the vehicle for delivery at 7:36am, and then had the 9:00am "delivery exception." Usually FedEx gets to my building late in the morning or early in the afternoon. I'm expecting that it will be the same today.
  • Reply 7 of 69
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Lines for the new iPad in New York City were declared "better than expected" on Friday, considering Apple began accepting preorders online more than a week ago...



    What do you mean by "better"? Honest question, as I suspect that there could be some ambiguity in values. The best line I know has 0 people in it...
  • Reply 8 of 69
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I'm thinking 2.5 to 3 million units this weekend.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Munster counted 750 people in line at the flagship Fifth Avenue Store, compared to 1,190 for the iPad 2 last year.



    Waiting for someone to turn that into proof that the iPad is losing interest.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    (... though I do have concerns over how large these 'new iPad' optimized apps are looking).







    Thank you for the useful post.
  • Reply 9 of 69
    I picked up my new AppleTV at the Fedex facility last night (I wasn't home when they attempted to deliver it). The guy there told me he just finished reading a company memo stating that it was shipping 450,000 iPads.



    My iPad is coming via UPS. I don't know what their numbers are like. But if UPS' numbers are similar to Fedex, it sounds like 1 million iPads is going to be well within reach on the first day.



    Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't seen business stories about how busy the shippers are going to be today. Apparently, it's enough of a strain for Fedex to put out an internal memo.
  • Reply 10 of 69
    In Paris, the line was filled with Russian scalpers.
  • Reply 11 of 69
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I'm thinking 2.5 to 3 million units this weekend.

    Waiting for someone to turn that into proof that the iPad is losing interest.



    I'm not at all surprised and it's not about losing interest. It's a tablet, not a phone and unsubsidized so the upfront costs are higher. Look how many millions of people JUST bought the iPad2 through the holidays. You honestly think the average person is going to run out and buy the newerish one launch weekend because the screen may be a little better? It's no doubt going to be a runaway success, in time, this go around. I'd very much assume the majority of sales are still first time tablet buyers.
  • Reply 12 of 69
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by microfud View Post


    I picked up my new AppleTV at the Fedex facility last night (I wasn't home when they attempted to deliver it). The guy there told me he just finished reading a company memo stating that it was shipping 450,000 iPads.



    My iPad is coming via UPS. I don't know what their numbers are like. But if UPS' numbers are similar to Fedex, it sounds like 1 million iPads is going to be well within reach on the first day.



    Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't seen business stories about how busy the shippers are going to be today. Apparently, it's enough of a strain for Fedex to put out an internal memo.



    Interesting, thanks for that angle on the story. This is all about the screen. Unprecedented.
  • Reply 13 of 69
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KPOM View Post


    That's what mine says. At first I thought that maybe the doorman wasn't there to sign for it. However, I think since it updated exactly at 9:00am it was pre-programmed. On mine, it said it was on the vehicle for delivery at 7:36am, and then had the 9:00am "delivery exception." Usually FedEx gets to my building late in the morning or early in the afternoon. I'm expecting that it will be the same today.



    On FedEx vehicle for delivery-my line is at my door, wait for FedEx
  • Reply 14 of 69
    Mine just arrived via Fedex 20 mins ago. HIGH FIVE!
  • Reply 15 of 69
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by grabowcp View Post


    Mine just arrived via Fedex 20 mins ago. HIGH FIVE!



    May I ask, what state are you in,,?
  • Reply 16 of 69
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    Looks like backlight bleed is back again per the people over at Mac Rumors Hopefully my iPad which on the Fedex truck as we speak isn't stricken with this problem:







    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1341323
  • Reply 17 of 69
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    (... though I do have concerns over how large these 'new iPad' optimized apps are looking).







    Solution: skip everything but the Martha Stewart Cookies.
  • Reply 18 of 69
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    (... though I do have concerns over how large these 'new iPad' optimized apps are looking).







    Most apps use pre-generated images for everything, and thus, they'll now include copies of those same images at twice the resolution (which dramatically increases the amount of storage space required).



    This is why I always push to have as much be drawn "programmatically" as possible. A few lines of code to draw things (rather than using images) can save you many megabytes in your app size. And, if done right, it can automatically scale to higher resolutions with no extra effort required. The apps which didn't increase much in size likely took this approach.
  • Reply 19 of 69
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flaneur View Post


    Interesting, thanks for that angle on the story. This is all about the screen. Unprecedented.



    I want to see it in person. The iPhone screen is great (but way too tiny), and the huge high rez iPad screen promises to be gorgeous.
  • Reply 20 of 69
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    I'd very much assume the majority of sales are still first time tablet buyers.



    I'm wondering how many 1st generation buyers will be getting the 3rd generation iPad. I know of at least 2 people in that camp... myself and a friend of mine. So there's 2 sales you can count in the previous buyer's list.
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