Overseas customers have begun lining up as Apple continues its fastest international rollout for the iPad yet with the release of the device in 25 new countries and territories.
Apple announced earlier this month that the second wave of third-generation iPad launches will take place this Friday.
The new tablet will go on sale at 8 a.m. local time in: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
With iPad inventory in tight supply after launching just a week ago in 10 countries to "better-than-expected lines," customers have already begun lining up outside retail outlets. Several people on location in Mexico reported long lines outside of stores in the area.
The line for the new iPad in Mexico, via @Wikichava.
Federico Viticci of MacStories reported on Twitter that 60 people had already lined up outside of a store in Italy by 5:40 a.m. local time.
Apple revealed earlier this week that the first weekend of new iPad sales set a new record for the device. The company said it sold over three million units during launch weekend. Wireless carrier AT&T announced that it had set a single-day record for iPad sales and activations last Friday.
Wall Street is generally optimistic that the accelerated rollout of the iPad to new countries will provide an upside to their current estimates for the March quarter. A number of investment firms have raised their forecasts for the iPad in response to the strength of the launch. For instance, Evercore Partners' Rob Cihra upped his estimate for the first quarter of calendar 2012 from 10 million to 13 million iPad units.
Update: An earlier version of this article contained a different photo. That image has been taken down at the request of the owner.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Apple announced earlier this month that the second wave of third-generation iPad launches will take place this Friday.
The new tablet will go on sale at 8 a.m. local time in: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
With iPad inventory in tight supply after launching just a week ago in 10 countries to "better-than-expected lines," customers have already begun lining up outside retail outlets. Several people on location in Mexico reported long lines outside of stores in the area.
The line for the new iPad in Mexico, via @Wikichava.
Federico Viticci of MacStories reported on Twitter that 60 people had already lined up outside of a store in Italy by 5:40 a.m. local time.
Apple revealed earlier this week that the first weekend of new iPad sales set a new record for the device. The company said it sold over three million units during launch weekend. Wireless carrier AT&T announced that it had set a single-day record for iPad sales and activations last Friday.
Wall Street is generally optimistic that the accelerated rollout of the iPad to new countries will provide an upside to their current estimates for the March quarter. A number of investment firms have raised their forecasts for the iPad in response to the strength of the launch. For instance, Evercore Partners' Rob Cihra upped his estimate for the first quarter of calendar 2012 from 10 million to 13 million iPad units.
Update: An earlier version of this article contained a different photo. That image has been taken down at the request of the owner.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Why would so many consumers be queuing up for the new iPad? I figured that the notorious tales of the Heatgate Chronicles would have spread all around the globe by now. Would so many consumers take the risk of having their fingers singed to the bone by merely touching the back of the blazingly hot iPad? 
: (source wiktionary.org) A line of people, vehicles or other objects, in which one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on, and which newcomers join at the opposite end (the back).
. Whether there's an alternative shop or not is not relevant, I would guess
: FNAC. (I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know whether FNAC already had new iPads or whether there was a queue there as well. I'm sure the spring sunshine
and the nice location
were the real reasons for the queue at Switch.)
...
