Poor planning by Apple IMO

[Teacher's Pet]

I thought about this topic while I was waiting on mine to ship from Apple. I know they had big hopes, but I don't think anyone expected the iPad to sell like it did. I personally wasn't crazy excited, even though I'm a pretty big gadget geek. I just happened to need to decide what my birthday present was going to be. Every year I buy myself something big, and my parents throw me some money towards whatever it is.

With no retailers in my city carrying them, I ordered one without seeing it. Mostly because I wanted an ereader, and the kindle was almost the same price as the wifi 16 GB version. Within a few hours of unpacking it, I knew it was one of the best presents I ever bought myself.

I would guess that many people weren't planning to buy an iPad, but upon seeing what an amazing device, they realized this is what they needed their whole lives and just didn't know it, and it's paying off big for Apple.

 

[Seadog]

When the wifi model first showed up in the stores, the talk was that it would be long lines like the iPhone intros. I was surprised to see the OKC store was not jammed and still had a few, but after getting my hands on one, had no doubts that I wanted one.

I think there was a perception about the iPad that has undergone a radical shift as people recognize it's uses. Likely Apple will have 1-2 years with no competition. After that, it is anyone's guess.

 

[sbarnes8478]

When the wifi model first showed up in the stores, the talk was that it would be long lines like the iPhone intros. I was surprised to see the OKC store was not jammed and still had a few, but after getting my hands on one, had no doubts that I wanted one.

I think there was a perception about the iPad that has undergone a radical shift as people recognize it's uses. Likely Apple will have 1-2 years with no competition. After that, it is anyone's guess.

While that's true, the app store is gonna generate a significant level of brand inertia. It's not just that the platform is amazing (it is, really!) but that whatever you may want to use it for has probably already been put in place specifically to meet your needs.

Coming up with another 'wow' device won't be as difficult as matching the utility the software base is providing. As long as any future iPad platform releases maintain a significant degree of backward compatibility, and Apple would be crazy not to IMHO, any new device is gonna have a huge hill to climb trying to gain wide acceptance.

 

[spinfreak]

When the wifi model first showed up in the stores, the talk was that it would be long lines like the iPhone intros. I was surprised to see the OKC store was not jammed and still had a few, but after getting my hands on one, had no doubts that I wanted one.

I think there was a perception about the iPad that has undergone a radical shift as people recognize it's uses. Likely Apple will have 1-2 years with no competition. After that, it is anyone's guess.

Very true. The main reason I decided I wanted one (a week before release, so a little later than most) was for business purposes, but am using it kore and more for personal use. My laptop hardly gets turned on anymore.

But before the release, just about everyone I know kept saying "it's just a big iPod touch", "it's not worth it", etc....however most have changed their minds and want one for themselves now. That's what's happening everywhere, and it's creating an even bigger demand as time goes on.

 

[Matth3w]

I'm not talking about the iPad itself, I'm talking about accessories though. And you can't tell me that it cost a lot or whatever that they couldn't have more camera kits and cases. They were sold out in the first week...surely they expected to sell at least a few hundred thousand the first week, and yet didn't have enough cases and camera kits to even cover the initial week of sales.

 

[James Goddard]

I ordered the iPad, dock and case all at the same time. Dock came first, then iPad. Still waiting on the case.

From the iPad point of view, I think people selling ipads on bay for 200% of the price might leave some bad tastes in customers mouths but probably not enough to override the buzz generated by not being able to get one.

From the case side, well it's jut plain annoying. I feel like I'm missing put on a lot of use because there are a lot of places I don't want to take it without a case.

 

[iVan]

Could Apple be leaving a door open for aftermarket suppliers? Could they prefer to spend all energy on the iPad production first?

I've ordered all accessories the same day as the iPad. Everything came in six different shipments. An other one should be here shortly, the camera accessories...

 

[Matth3w]

Trust me, Apple is not trying to leave stuff open to aftermarket suppliers. Apple is the most locked down proprietary major tech company out there.

Besides, they make a FORTUNE on those accessories. They probably pay some 12 year old Chinese kid .10 cents an hour to put together those cases and camera kits and then resell them at like a million percent markup.

 

[wot_fan]

Trust me, Apple is not trying to leave stuff open to aftermarket suppliers. Apple is the most locked down proprietary major tech company out there.

Besides, they make a FORTUNE on those accessories. They probably pay some 12 year old Chinese kid .10 cents an hour to put together those cases and camera kits and then resell them at like a million percent markup.

I beg to differ. Apple makes very few accessories for the iPod/iPhone/iPad. A vast majority of accessories are made by 3rd party vendors. While I agree that Apple is not trying to give aftermarket suppliers a boost, I don't see how they can be considered "locked down" when it comes to accessories.

I understand your frustration at not being able to get the camera kit and yes it is true that Apple appears to have greatly underestimated the demand for the iPad. On the other hand though, I remember right after the iPad was announced most tech/gadget sites considered the iPad a joke. Comments left on iPad articles were full of people ridiculing the device. It is just a large iPod Touch after all. With all the negative comments circulating before its release, I am not surprised that Apple underestimated the demand. You yourself said that you weren't really interested in an iPad until you used one. If you didn't know you wanted one, how was Apple supposed to know .

 

[Bremen]

Business 101, heck... Business 1. If you make something, you want to sell it to as many people as possible. Apple (or any successful company) lives by this simple rule. I wager that somewhere heads are rolling because of the lack of product. Trust me, Apple wants you to buy their case, USB adapter, keyboard, dock.....etc. They are not in business to support aftermarket manufactures (nor should they be). This is a screw up, and someone or a group is being held responsible.

 

[Matth3w]

Business 101, heck... Business 1. If you make something, you want to sell it to as many people as possible. Apple (or any successful company) lives by this simple rule. I wager that somewhere heads are rolling because of the lack of product. Trust me, Apple wants you to buy their case, USB adapter, keyboard, dock.....etc. They are not in business to support aftermarket manufactures (nor should they be). This is a screw up, and someone or a group is being held responsible.

EXACTLY. Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Obfuscation]

I was going to buy an apple case with my ipad but since it was backordered I didn't. I will probably be buying a marware eco vue case after my ipad comes