“Apple Inc. said it sold 3 million units of its iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad during the debut weekend, a sign that the new devices can help the company withstand accelerating competition in the tablet market,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg.
“Apple began selling the 7.9-inch tablet in the U.S. and more than 30 other countries on Nov. 2, ramping up an effort to fend off competition in the market for tablets, which NPD DisplaySearch predicts will more than double to $162 billion by 2017,” Satariano reports. “‘We estimate at least two-thirds of the units are iPad minis,’ Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, wrote in a research report today.””
“New Yorkers looking to buy the latest iPad had fewer stores to shop in after Hurricane Sandy resulted in power blackouts and hobbled transportation. Apple closed two of its five New York stores as well as some in New Jersey because of the damage. Even so, the 5th Avenue store sold out within a few hours after almost 600 customers lined up, according to Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets,” Satariano reports. “People who ordered online are experiencing delays. Shipments for the iPad mini are held up about two weeks, according to Apple’s website. The company doesn’t report orders made from the website until they are delivered, according to regulatory filings. The first models on sale worked only with a Wi-Fi wireless connection, with versions that connect to the data networks of phone carriers coming about two weeks later, Apple said.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple sells three million iPads in three days; double previous first weekend sales – November 5, 2012
The Independent reviews Apple’s iPad mini: High-end gadget is worth the price – October 31, 2012
CNET reviews Apple’s iPad mini: The new standard for little-tablet design – October 31, 2012
NYT’s Pogue reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘All the iPad goodness in a more manageable size; it’s awesome’ – October 31, 2012
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘A splendid choice; terrific for reading, watching movies and playing games’ – October 31, 2012
Mossberg reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘An impressive feat; the perfect solution’ – October 31, 2012
iPad – Apple invented it after many years of failed tablet attempts.
Apple does things right – Never forget that.
I knew that iPad mini would be a flop.
So the iPad mini becomes the best seller instantly, just as many of us predicted. I doubt the iPad will ever catch up sales wise.
Where are all the morons who told us the iPad mini wouldn’t happen? That there was no need for it? That even if it were to appear, the masses would still reach for a 10″ iPad, rendering the mini a useless flop?
Soon the iPad will become the Mac Pro while the masses tote their iPad minis around. The minor sacrifice in screen size is well worth the tremendous gains in portability. We’re talking a full screen tablet that’s as thin and light as a regular Kindle. It’s a wet dream come true.
Please don’t allow good news and facts get in the way of great fiction.
I’m hoping the iPad Mini will have the same effect on the market as the iPod Mini did. When the latter was released it killed the competition making Apple #1 in both hard drive and flash music players. I know Apple’s market share for tablets is already good but this will blow all the wannabes out of the water.
iPod mini was hard drive based.
True the mini was HD based but it’s price point opened up the market and competed very well with flash based systems. It made the iPod cool and meant every kid wanted one. It was a bold move and paid off big time by decimating the competition.
Wiki lists the sale numbers and the introduction of the mini brought a sharp increase in sales for the follow 2004 Xmas quarter (Q1 2005 for Apple).
“accelerating competition in the tablet market”
0 to 25 mph in just 18 months.
Steve Jobs was right. The world was not ready for a 7″ tablet 3 years ago. Consumer’s weren’t and Apple wasn’t. It wasn’t until retina capability (smaller pixels) would allow Apple to fabricate a smaller display with an appropriate content capacity. Consumers would not have bought a 7 inch display that would hold half a webpage.
Apple = great timing.
Also, watch this – retina resolution will eventually lead to display resolution independence. Finally.
I’m not sure if you are aware of this but iPad minis aren’t sporting retina displays.
I think SJ intentionally misled consumer, press and the competition w.r.t. 7″ displays and it won’t be the first time. Besides, his argument would have undermined iPhones and iPod touches.
I feel the real reason Apple stuck with the larger iPads was because it cut off the competition from introducing bigger better screens. They just couldn’t come up with larger than 9-10″ tablets as that would be ridiculous. Meanwhile, Apple had cornered the larger displays with bulk preorders. Competition couldn’t get their hands on those at the price Apple was enjoying. So, they had to go for various smaller sizes and in two years lowered the price on those enough for Apple to swoop right in.
I strongly believe this was what Apple wanted and had in their strategy plans. After all, they had all various prototypes and knew all the pros and cons and had the tradeoffs and risk assessments ready.
it is not a 7 inch tablet, it is an 8 inch tablet. otherwise, if you want to truncate, the 10 inch tablet is 9 inches.
Google and Amazon could only dream of something like this happening to them….
At a guess of ASP of $400 ea, that’s $1.2B (US) in sales, at gross margin of 40%, that’s $480 million profit.