“Supplies of the 64GB Apple TV 4K have apparently dried up, with only limited stock available at retail —and orders placed today won’t ship until January 4,” Mike Wuerthele reports for AppleInsider.
“It isn’t clear why the unit’s stock is depleted,” Wuerthele reports. “AppleInsider spot checks across the United States show little or no stock available at Apple Retail for pickup.”
“At present, the online Apple Store says that the device will ship in four to five weeks,” Wuerthele reports. “The 32GB model is unaffected, and has wide availability.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Not enough supply to satisfy demand. Play it again, Sam!
And, where is our Amazon Prime Video app for Apple TV that Apple promised was “coming soon” back in early September?
SEE ALSO:
Under ‘operations genius’ Tim Cook, product delays and other problems are no longer unusual for Apple – November 20, 2017
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Where is the Apple TV’s Amazon Prime Video app? – November 2, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook: The ‘operations genius’ who never has enough products to sell at launch – October 23, 2017
Apple reveals HomePod smart home music speaker – June 5, 2017
Apple is misplaying the hand Steve Jobs left them – November 30, 2016
Apple delays AirPod rollout – October 26, 2016
Apple delays release of watchOS 2 due to bug – September 16, 2015
Apple delays HomeKit launch until autumn – May 14, 2015
Apple delays production of 12.9-inch ‘iPad Pro’ in face of overwhelming iPhone 6/Plus demand – October 9, 2014
Tim Cook’s mea culpa: iMac launch should have been postponed – April 24, 2013
No surprise.
WTH. SERIOUSLY. Glad I preordered mine. Very happy with it. How in the hell can they be unprepared for the one time of the year when people buy random shit.
A few weeks ago I started working at a large chain store that sells all the streaming devices.
I have sold one – count’em – ONE Apple TV.
During the same three weeks I have sold probably 100 Amazon FireTV Sticks, 50 or so various Roku units, a few higher-end Amazon units, and about a dozen or so Chromecasts.
By the way, the guy that bought the AppleTV is the only customer of mine that has even asked about it.
So, go ahead and shoot for the high end, Apple. Meanwhile, Amazon is eating your lunch at retail.
It’s easy to hack the fire sticks to access movies. Everyone I know that has one has it for that reason. Also, I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of Apple TV’s sold are purchased at Apple stores or the online store. Apple has its own retail..they really don’t need other retailers to be successful.
Why the heck would I want to buy any Apple stuff from a “Large Chain Store” rather than from Apple Store or even better still from an Apple online store?
C’mon, fanboy Paul. You missed the entire POINT of the post! And your buying habits are personal and off topic …
You do sound like the stereotypical Big Box electronics employee / shopper, talking as if that store is the barometer for everything electronic, as rightfully pointed out by M and Paul above.
“Who buys iPhones, that’s fancy crap.”
“I got three [Android phones] after buying one for myself FREE. FREE.”
“Nobody buys iPhones because we have all deez deals over here on Android stuff.”
Um… pretty sure iPhones aren’t “high end” as it relates to most consumers, sir. There are cheaper iPhones everywhere.
Guys, last ATV I bought was from Best Buy or radio shack. It was cheaper then the one I bought @ Apple online (which was a refurb). Had to return it.
I’ve been an Apple owner since 1989, and an Apple Certified Tech for years. Of course the typical Apple fan will go to the Apple Store – if they have one nearby. But if Apple wants to expand their reach beyond current Apple owners, they have to compete in the retail space with Amazon and Rocky, even Google.
Roku, not Rocky.
I buy direct from Apple for two reasons. 1. Service is unparalleled. If defective, you walk out with a new device no hassle..no questions. They have all of your info.
2. I’ve never met..ever..a sales person at other retailers that knew more about an Apple product than I..never. That, and 9 out of 10 they have this condescending tone that annoys the hell out of me. My best experience has been at microcenter.
I’m sure your place is different, but time is money, and it’s hard to beat the efficiency of apples marketplace and their instant support.
I just bought a new Sony 4K HDR UHDTV on Black Friday and even as someone that has owned every generation of Apple TV since the very first one, I went with the Roku Premiere+ instead of the ATV 4K this time. The lack of YouTube 4K video playback support (which the Roku does do) and the fact that the Roku was $130 less made the decision an absolute no brainer.
“Meanwhile, Amazon is eating your lunch at retail.”
By all means, criticize. But at least stay in reality — i.e. the relative sizes and profitibality of the companies.
And of course I was referring to streaming devices.
Another Christmas where the “supply chain” genius is out of stock or delaying products?!?!?! Gee, what a surprise!
Bumper sticker: Clueless Cook Cannot Claim Christmas.
Starting to wonder if he has a problem with the holiest religious holiday of the year since that clearly rubs against leftist SJW’s beliefs …
This is what is a called a trend in failed leadership.
No doubt and absolutely correct. The failure track record has been adding up for years.
The board needs to grow a pair and not worry about the liberal media while reassigning or replacing the gay CEO of the largest company of all time.
That said, since their buttered bread is green it is obvious they have been overlooking years of Cook’s missteps.
Their inaction is long overdue and Apple could haul in much more boatloads of cash with products delivered on time and more importantly for Christmas shopping season. Add more cash with regular refresh updates of ALL PRODUCTS that are NOT iPhones.
Cook is a one-trick pony …
Gonna call him “clueless cook” when Apple hits a trillion? Apple is not perfect, and like any small town that becomes a big city, the ole’ timers gonna bitch. The scale of Apple’s supply chain is unimaginable; to design, market multiple unique products (and 4 OS’s) and make 100’s of millions of them available in a quarter is staggering. I’m not defending every decision made- but Cooks done a lot more good than bad.
“Gonna call him “clueless cook” when Apple hits a trillion?”
You mean when Steve’s brilliant iPhone handoff to Cook hits a trillion, no? Other than not enough X units at launch, the “flat” iOS and the intrusive notch, he did nothing to derail Apple’s gravy train and gave his best presentation during X launch.
“the ole’ timers gonna bitch.”
When the loyal seniors remember an Apple that shipped when promised, that did not release multiple buggy software updates and year after had enough supply at Christmas, let alone NOT DELAYING products — no reason for the ole’ timers to bitch.
“The scale of Apple’s supply chain is unimaginable; to design, market multiple unique products (and 4 OS’s) and make 100’s of millions of them available in a quarter is staggering.”
Agreed. But that is a long tired apologist excuse. He was heralded as a supply chain genius and yet many are making excuses that the supply chain now RULES Apple? Not buying it and we have proof in other MDN posts where the Echo Dot ruled Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Samsung phones, et al.
Homepod under your Christmas tree? Not this year.
NEXT UP: iMac Pro under your Christmas tree? Waiting, still waiting, still waiting.
Other than his activist liberal politics dragging employees blindsided to support or just shut up, LIKE Tim personally.
Just not professionally …
People act like no other company runs out of stock at Christmas. The more popular an item is, the greater the chance of supply running out. I work in retail. The “hot” items always sell out soon after Thanksgiving. Every year. That’s just life. Where I live, when we get a prediction of a severe weather event the grocery stores sell out of everything. The stores know the storm is coming also. They overstock, but everything still sells out. One can try to predict supply and demand. But, one never really knows. Tim Cook has been managing the sales of the most popular device in all history. The sales success of many Apple products outperforms analyst expectations, consumer expectations, and even Apple’s expectations. No one predicted that the 256g iPhone X would be this year’s most popular model. Almost everyone was predicting that very few would pay $1000 for a phone. And yet, most people picked the $1150 model. Tim & Co. aren’t perfect. But, EVERY retailer on Earth would love to have the “problems” Apple has.
Well reasoned post and have to agree with a lot of your points.
That said, the trains are consistently running later, if at all …
I have 3 Apple TV units, i’m now looking at the RoKu and FireTV Sticks for my next purchase. Apple TV isn’t worth the price for what they offer.
I did that over a year ago. Went to Roku and never regretted it.
They also have a remote that is ergonomically, not like Apple’s fashion over function piece of Ives crap. Yeah, it looks nice, too bad it’s such a ergo disaster.
cogito ergo sum roku.
Apple knows that their product is overpriced and not that good, so they made only a few thousand units max, that’s why supply is so tight.
And how is that Amazon Prime working on the ATV?
I had to abandon my ATV for Roku. Much better, and cheaper too.
Doesn’t the Roku interface feed you advertisements…? The only thing better (for most) is the price. The Apple TV has the best interface on the market. If you toss in the App Store, it stands alone.
Totally agree with you.
This just made me want to go and watch my Apple TV 4K.
Laterrrrr!
Promethious was particularly good in 4K. Watched it in standard HD a few times…but was blown away about how much detail was missing in the non-4K version.