The iPad mini only went on sale Friday morning, but it’s already sold out in some Apple Stores around the world, 9to5Mac reports.
The flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City has run out of iPad minis, according to Topeka Capital’s Brian White, who released a note to clients on the subject. Apple Stores here in the UK, Singapore, Canada, and all over America are also out of stock, according to White.
Whether this is down to huge demand or Apple not having enough stock isn’t clear. When we went down to the Covent Garden store bright and early Friday morning, there wasn’t much of a queue. Not compared to the usual crowds at an Apple launch, anyway.
Bad news if you didn’t pre-order your mini: you’re out of luck online as well. Apple’s UK website lists the Wi-Fi-only model as being dispatched in two weeks, while the cellular versions are given a worryingly vague “late November” shipping date. Hmm.
It’s not as bad as the Kindle Paperwhite though. The original shipping date has slipped to the week of 17 December, even though it went on sale at the end of last month. Best get your orders in now if you want it in time for Christmas.
The mini is the tablet Apple said it would never make. Despite its diddy dimensions, it carries a price tag much higher than rivals like the Google Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire HD, so it’ll be fascinating to see how well it performs compared to its cheaper 7-inch counterparts. Apple usually releases first weekend sales stats for new products, so if it keeps quiet come Monday, we’ll know it has nothing to shout about.
Did you pick up an iPad mini on launch day? Or is it on your Christmas list? How do you think it’ll fare in the face of cheaper competition? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.