“Analysts expect Apple Inc. to have sold close to a million iPad 2 tablet computers on its debut weekend — significantly more than the first iPad, which went on sale last April,” Jennifer Robin Raj reports for Reuters. “‘We would not be surprised to see Apple sell closer to 1 million iPad 2s in the opening weekend,’ said Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland.”
MacDailyNews Take: If Reuters is calling iPads “tablet computers,” they should ask Gartner and IDC and similar outfits why iPads are not counted in their PC market share reports.
“Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry estimates Apple may have sold three times more iPad 2 in the first two days compared to the previous version,” Raj reports. “The profile of iPad 2 buyer is — 60 percent existing iPad owners, about 40 percent first time iPad buyers, 100 perent own at-least One Apple Product, Chowdhry wrote. People prefer AT&T’s iPad 2 over Verizon’s because AT&T has better customer service, Chowdhry added.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: One thing is for sure: If Apple had sufficient iPad 2 supply they could have sold at least double what they did.
As for the AT&T iPad 2 vs. Verizon, “customer service” (or lack thereof) didn’t factor into our decision at all. As we explained over the weekend: “Our 3G iPad 2s are AT&T simply because we want to maintain our unlimited data plans. The slightly faster data speed offered by AT&T over Verizon doesn’t hurt, either. We’re willing to give up some coverage areas in spots (and gain it others) to keep our grandfathered-in unlimited data. As long as it’s not voice, we choose AT&T. Our iPhone 4s are Verizon.” Another consideration: AT&T iPads also work in far more places abroad.
Related articles:
Apple extends iPad 2 shipping to 3-4 weeks; International launch in jeopardy? – March 13, 2011
iPhone 5 in awkward spot after Apple can’t seem to give away Verizon iPad 2 – March 12, 2011
iPad 2 sold out at Apple, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, AT&T, Verizon retail stores – March 12, 2011
Analyst: Sales of iPad 2 could hit 1 million units in first weekend – March 11, 2011
Crowds line up for iPad 2 across the U.S.A. (with photos) – March 11, 2011
Interesting to see the breakdown of purchases amongst previous iPad owners and new owners. I saw another report on Twitter that skewed the other with 70% of iPad 2 buyers being first time iPad owners. Regardless, Apple has a huge hit on their hands (again).
That 70% was Gene Munster’s survey of something like 300 to 600 people.
I personally know 15 people with no apple product (hardware) who bought an iPad.
“Trip Chowdhry”
Never was there a more bizarre combination of first and last names.
Maybe, the actor Rip Torn?
It’s possible, but hard to imagine, Apple selling a million iPads in just a few hours of sales. It was completely sold out be the end of the day on Friday, so how could a *million* sales transactions take place within, say, three hours? Even if every US Apple store sold a 1000 iPads in that time, it would still only make some 230,000 iPads. If you include the relative handful of iPads given to Target, BestBuy, etc, that still wouldn’t come to more than 250,000. And there’s no way that some 700,000 iPads were sold online in such a short time.
My theory is that Apple pushed this release date forward to get iPad 2 out as fast as possible, and didn’t have near enough stock to handle the demand. It should have waited a few weeks more to get enough supply into the pipeline.
You would have failed Marketing 101.
agreed..there were problems with long waits and no product, but overall it’s good apple doesn’t read blogs to try to figure out how to market…it would be worse than other marketing disasters
Don’t forget online orders. I’m only thinking 500,000 to 600,000.
I believe it was analyst Gene Munster, at Gartner, who did a survey at Apple Stores during the iPad 2 release, came up with that number.
On another note, I believe component supply and capacity will be constrained, to build new iPad 2 units (much less iPhone 5 units) in the next quarter or two, due to the Japanese damage from quake/tsunami/nuke reactors. Indeed, it’s really down to the electrical supply issue and how it affects transportation and logistics.
Remember, the supply chain issues, from equipment to make components and Apple products, all have links in Japan.
Sorry. Not Gartner, Piper Jaffray.
Here’s confirmation of my concerns with supply of any electronic gadgets going forward:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/14/japanese-quake-will-likely-affect-our-supply-of-gadgets/
Yeah, I know of a woman who, on my recommendation, just bought an iPhone 4 two weeks ago (her first Apple product) and who also bought an iPad 2 Friday. Now, she’s wanting a MacBook Pro.
Halo effect!!!
Personal experience: Brother got iPhone 3G spring of 2009. Wife and I each got iPhone 3g late fall 2009. Led to me switching to Mac with a MacBook Pro 13″ Feb. ’10. Upgraded to iPhone 4 at launch. Father followed my lead getting a used MacBook Air and iPhone 3Gs. My Brother with the 3G upgraded to iPhone 4 and then he and another friend of ours got MacBook Pros. Finally in the fall I picked up an iMac for the business and a 32GB Wifi iPad.
The halo effect here (to date as far as I know): One iPhone 3G turned into three iPhone 4s, one iPhone 3Gs, two iPhone 3G, three MacBook Pros, one MacBook Air, one iMac, one iPad. — Oh and my TV, AirPort Extreme, and MobileMe subscription.
Add it up and that = $$$. And it’s not just blindly following. The stunning superiority of Apple over PC sells itself. It just took one iPhone that helped expose entrenched HP users to the fact. My father switched to Mac at 76 and finds it easier to use overall. Incredible.
It’s pretty funny how that works. Same thing happened to my family, my girlfriend’s family, and my friends. All because of one little iPod.
My elderly friends have almost all made an iPad their first Apple product. Just lay yours on the table open to iBook. After about 15 minutes, show them text scaleability in text and on Browser articles, and then explain the prices. It’s that easy.
My wife a “reading specialist” teacher of 35 years and now a private consulting tutor for reading learning disabilities, reports nearly ALL of her children with learning disabilities parents are getting iPads and reporting spectacular results. Some parents of autistic kids actually break down crying about the wonderful new things their kids are actually doing, mostly by trial-and-error (on their own) that the parents had previously “given up hope” that they would see the kids do.
I am in chemo and radiation, being treated by a wonderful “team” of about 20 Doctors so far. About half the Doctors have purchased iPads on their own and are actively asking the hospitals and other areas of practice to make using iPads possible. Some are actively demonstrating, evangelizing and lobbying their colleagues. Two are developing their own special-use-for-their-own-medical-area apps.
Apple has another big hit on its hands with their biggest new product area problem for the next two-three years being making enough units to meet the sales demand. Apple is actually “increasing” their ability to be the best electronic “growth” stock even in the midst of a global recession (new normal, depression, or whatever you want to think it is). My only real question is “how long can such a great ride last”?
Saw your post and that your wife is a private consulting tutor for learning disabilities. I have a daughter, almost 13, who has severe dyslexia. It is very difficult to figure out the assitive technology that may be beneficial for her on your own. My wife and I have been exploring the possibilies of an i pad 2 with my daughter’s learning disabilities. I would love to consult with your wife about her experience and what she might reccommend for my daughter. Hope your treatment is going as well as it can. Thanks for your time.
I waited in line Friday and Saturday and got denied both times. The upside, the Apple staff was amazing, giving out crackers and water. The downside, I left empty handed. When you hear an employee say, “If these 100 people ahead of you only want 2, then there will be some left for you”. Allowing people to buy 10+ iPads at a time is HORRIBLE and the policy needs to change.
Huh? I thought the policy was a limit of two per person?
There was no official limit on quantities by Apple. If you went from 1 rep to another ( they all had point of sale scanners) you could walk out with more than two. I have video of people sitting outside the NY 5th ave store with piles of 20+ each. Some of them reselling at $100 premium…
Not at all surprised. The apple store I got mine at said all the 3G models went first (which I don’t get at all). Most iPhone users were already AT&T and the Verizon phone just came out, nothing shocking here.
They’re selling the AT&T models in GSM countries.
And the CEO of Motorola Mobility just had an Oh, sh*t, we’re f*cked moment.
its true that AT&T’s customer service is better. That and higher data speeds convinced people on my line Friday to go with them.
Renaldo you might be right if everyone was just buying 1 iPad2 but some people were buying 10+. This will significantly drive those numbers up. I myself bought two even though I had already owned 3 iPad WI-fi + 3G.
I wonder if Apple wil include all online sales logged during the weekend or only those actually shipped?
Shouldn’t be surprising. Verizon is superior only for voice, which is nigh useless on the iPad. Unless Verizon is the only thing that works in your area, there’s little reason not to choose AT&T and their faster data speeds.
I ordered 2 iPad 2’s before the 1am opening…
1 white 32gb wifi, my mothers.
1 64gb at&t black model.
My mothers will be here wednesday. Mine hasn’t shipped… Hoping thats not right, maybe shipping from California instead if china like the white one.
Order still shows a Friday delivery date…
I think 1 million over the weekend may be lowball number..
How many mothers do you have?
For whatever reason my iPhone isn’t auto correcting certain words anymore… Att used to turn to AT&T. Mothers to mother’s etc…
Noticed this new “feature” in 4.3
I ordered 2 iPads, one AT&T and one Verizon. We travel throughout the western states in a motor home. There are many rural areas with only At&T or only Verizon. Both are scheduled to ship on April 1. If the Verizon ones are not selling well I wonder why I would not get that sooner. Two separate orders BTW.
Are there piles of Verizon iPads unsold at Apple stores? No.
So given that both AT&T and Verizon iPads sold out within hours, how does this analyst attribute people preferring AT&T for the iPad due to their better customer service?
I switched from AT&T to Verizon when I upgraded to the iPad 2. Sure, I’m giving up unlimited data, but I prefer “wherever data”.
I’m keeping AT&T for the iPhone only because of the SIM and being able to use it abroad and being able to do data and voice at the same time. However, these aren’t factors for me with the iPad.
This is from the ifo Apple Website, and is an indication that Apple sold far fewer than 500,000 iPads this weekend; my guess would be around 300,000, max:
“Most Apple stores could have had as few as 500 iPads to sell, while Best Buy, Wal-Mart, AT&T and Verizon stores reportedly had no more than 50 each. Many Apple stores reported they had sold all available iPads within one hour of the special 5 p.m. opening time. At other stores, the cellular versions were out-of-stock within 45 minutes or less. Industry watchers believe Apple timed the introduction of the iPad 2 for March 2nd to snatch the buzz away from other companies whose competing tablets are nearly ready to release. But the early intro and retail store availability just nine days later meant that Apple’s suppliers in China had a very few days to ramp up full iPad production. The lack of pre-orders for the iPad 2 seems to lend further proof of the short supply theory. Other clues: prepared posters put on display after the first day sell-out telling customers to “check back tomorrow” for newly-delivered stock, and very recent component manufacture dates discovered by iFixit during a tear-down.”
And remember Verizon charges connection fee if you don’t subscribe for more than 3 months. So that makes AT&T a slightly better deal.