I wonder if the two or three month wait for ipads since announcement may cause potential customers to lose interest. I know I would probably have bought one thre weeks ago, but will probably wait a year or so now until the ipad and it's apps mature. Did Apple mistime their announcement?
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Delay in availability killing hype?
- Thread starter kevingaffney
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I think not. It's probably good. When the announcement was first made, there was a lot of complainint (by myself included) about the lack of Flash, lack of multi-tasking, lack of camera, lack of a real OS, lack of everything. The complaints were not limited to this forum, but Google News had articles by major news magazines posted that listed the same complaints. If the product was released amid a plethora of complaints, sales figures would have been stifled and the market would probably react negatively. Now much of the complaints have subsided. I still complain about Flash, but have resolved myself to no multi-tasking, etc. A camera would still be nice and will probably show up in a later model (so all the early adpopters can but another iPad when the camera becomes available next year). So now that the complaints have subsided and forgotten (since the American population has the memory of a gnat), the final release in Apple Stores, Best Buy, etc. will be looked at in a more exciting and positive way. The device is sexy, no doubt about that. The "wow" factor of the aesthetics will overcome the lack of a more complete (as in a computer OS) functionality. Sales will probably be very good and when Apple reports their sales figures, it will "exceed expectations" and drive the stock a little higher.
Steve Jobs may be inflexible with his products, but he is extremely smart. The delay between announcement and product availability must have been calculated and planned accordingly.
Steve Jobs may be inflexible with his products, but he is extremely smart. The delay between announcement and product availability must have been calculated and planned accordingly.
While I do think its premature - why announce something that won't be available for 60-90 days. That delay will not have any negative impact on people's buying decisions. Quite the opposite I suspect - I'm guessing it will raise the hype enough and more people may decide to buy one rather then less.
I don't think so. Just about anything people like to get excited for, from a new game console to a new game, DVD release to a new CD/music or movie, all of these get announced far far in advance and allow hype to build. I've mentioned this in other topics, but I think the key for Apple now is to handle the release well. This means having good amount of stock, a good release plan, no major bugs/problems/issues (like bad batteries or crashes) - if it takes 2 months to put all this together properly, so be it. As much as 60 days is feeling like torture to me, really it's not that long a wait compared to waiting for something like a new game release from Blizzard
I do wish they'd set an exact release date and have a few more details about the release (whether preorders will be available, will it sell in mainstream stores, etc). Even more so than a normal new product release, though, they need to ensure their opening months run as smoothly as possible. They need the core fans to buy and use the iPad as much as possible and just get it "out there", because we'll essentially be the first wave of beta testers and providing the dominant amount of feedback to the rest of the world. Apple needs us to fall in love with the device, then show our friends, family and colleagues just how great a product it is. What Apple can't afford (given the very large percentage of skeptics) is to have a buggy release, or any additional animosity or negativity from lack of stock or other release issues.
It is all to build up the hype and anticipation. I don't see how this will hurt the future sales in any way.
I'm with you. When I first saw it I was like ok that's cool. But now I'm ready to have this thing.
Same here. We've been wanting a laptop around the house for a while now, and I use my iPhone to surf the web on the couch and in bed. Now that I've seen the iPad can do all of that better I'm very eager to be doing all this on a bigger screen.
That's not the point, many companies do not unveil a device 90 days prior to availability because of the FCC. They wait till the FCC approves the device. I stand by my words apple could have waited but they didn't. While this won't hurt sales I still think it was premature.
I actually think the wait increases the hype. On release day you'll get articles about the release of the eagerly awaited iPad. You'll also get a second round of people predicting that it'll be a huge fail/success. This way they get two rounds of publicity.
If they do that, then the FCC approval process leaks the device ahead of the company's official announcement. Most companies couldn't care less, or feel it's worth the tradeoff. Apple is not most companies. Their secrecy is one of their biggest appeals to a lot of people, not because they like it, but because it makes them mysterious and intriguing. It's a huge deal for Apple because of all of the press it gets them.
So no, I don't think this hurts them or was a premature announcement.
jW
I think it's making more people buy it. A lot of people weren't that interested/didn't want to buy it after it was announced. During this wait time, a lot of people have had more thought to it, have had fanatics tell them about it, and researched more about it. I think a lot more people want to buy it now.
They probably would do the same thing if it was announced the same time it was available, but I think for a lot of people, now that the iPad is on their mind, they are going through their day with hints of wonder about what they would do if they had an iPad right then.
They probably would do the same thing if it was announced the same time it was available, but I think for a lot of people, now that the iPad is on their mind, they are going through their day with hints of wonder about what they would do if they had an iPad right then.
It would seem demand is growing for the iPad as word spreads
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/2...some-cannibalization-of-other-apple-products/
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/2...some-cannibalization-of-other-apple-products/