back to article New iPads to hit Apple stores on Friday

Staff at Apple's Covent Garden store confirmed that they will have the new iPads in the shop first thing on Friday morning, despite pre-orders clearing out piles of the slabs. The store didn't have any tablets, explained the Apple helper on Monday, meaning that somewhere in the UK – and not in the back room of the Covent …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Expect the scalpers and chancers to be out in force

    and punting them on ebay!

    1. Michael Strorm Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Expect the scalpers and chancers to be out in force

      Yeah, but remember what happened at the launch of the PS3 five years back? All the greedy little would-be scalpers got their fingers burned, couldn't shift the large numbers of expensive units at the obscene markup they'd hoped and ended up making little or no money for their effort.

      And gamers all over the world cried in sympathy with them- oh wait, no, I meant that they laughed at them.

  2. Naughtyhorse

    Yawn

    quell...... predicatable.

    hope it rains like hell then freezes on thursday night :-)

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes, but the Newer iPad is coming out in 7 months...

    1. Steve Evans

      ..and I'm sure the rumour mill will start churning on that one within the week.

  4. tommy060289
    Megaphone

    Can anyone spell durrrr?

    It was quite obvious. Apple was hardly going to send them all out to online orders and have none of the fuss at the stores (bring with it all the people queuing and drawing attention as well as highlighting all those shiny accessories!)

    I know the iPhone 4s last October was released on Friday and didn't sell out till Saturday afternoon and surely the demand for iPhone is substantially greater than iPad? This was in the Sheffield Meadowhall store so don't know how it compared to the rest of the UK but I'd expect (in the north at least) it was similar

    I'm thinking of going Friday afternoon after work and picking one up. I can't imagine I'll have much trouble getting one (especially since I want one of the 'less desireable' 4G 64gb models) and as a bonus I won't have to stand in line like a tard!

    1. ThomH

      Re: Can anyone spell durrrr?

      I guess the difference might be that most people get iPhones through their mobile carrier, not directly from Apple? There was certainly a long queue outside Apple's Covent Garden shop for the iPad 2. I wasn't in it so I've no idea how demand compared to supply.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can anyone spell durrrr?

      Tard.

    3. Gary Riches

      Re: Can anyone spell durrrr?

      I think it's actually the more desirable one. The most bought is the 16 GB WiFi and I'm pretty sure (can't be arsed to look for the stats again) that the second most bought device is the 64 GB 3G device (for iPad 2).

      Coupled with the fact that the screens are harder to produce than on the iPhone 4 so there will be less devices you may well be waiting like a tard... just not in line.

  5. Khaptain Silver badge

    Stats Please

    Does anyone know if Apple has ever released stats showing the percentages of return users in comparison to new users.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Stats Please

      A very quick search for

      "Apple ipad returns figures"

      Gave me the following article that is a year old. It's not quite what you're after, but I'd be interested in those figures as well

      http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2011/02/01/apple-ipad-has-less-return-rate-than-samsung-galaxy-tab/

      A search for 'iPad return figures'

      http://allthingsd.com/20110201/16-percent-of-galaxy-tabs-are-returned/

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Stats Please

        I dont think he meant that kind of return - he meant how many of these NEW devices

        are being bought by people who are ALREADY Apple customers - ie people stuck in the

        Apple world... rather then how many are being bought be people new to the Apple fold.

        from personal experience a vast majority of Apple devices are being snapped up by already Apple-owning people. Iphone4s being their iphone3G upgrade (and a couple of friends didnt even sell their 3Gs on - they kept them just in case they had an iphone4 disaster (thats how much they cant bare to be without their fruity device!). got 2 ipad/ipad2 owning friends who are going out to get their ipad3 this weekend they hope.

        more money than sense IMHO. I'd prefer the ipad2 with the ipad3 battery! :-)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Stats Please

          Clearly my comprehension was a little wonky there! I'd be interested to know if they are NEW customers - what have they moved from?

          I think it's fair to say that with the amount they're selling there would be a largeish proportion of new users. Other wise the historical proportion of Mac market share would have been larger. It's not just straight conversion

          Apple are selling more macs than ever before (though at a lower rate) so unless some people are doubling up, there must a be growing amount of new users.

          Feel free to correct my thoughts. It's been a bloody long day

  6. Jason Hindle

    Never felt the need to queue

    My iPad 2 still works and should continue to do so past Friday. They beg to multiply but I can wait.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Never felt the need to queue

      But your iPad 2 is now obsolete, people will mock you in Starbucks! Things must be done, before its too late.

      1. Jason Hindle

        Re: As long as my iPad 2 is next to my iPhone 3GS

        I'm confident no one will notice (and there's always my Amstrad Penpad for the ultimate alpha geek retro distraction).......

  7. A 31
    Coat

    I will think of these poor victims, queuing for a consumer product, throughout the night

    I will probably go and serve some free soup and bread, to help them in their torment, parting with all their hard earned cash, and too addicted to wait a few weeks.

    poor devils...

    1. Jeebus

      Hopefully some gang colours will be out in force on that evening.

    2. Michael Strorm Silver badge

      Not poisoning my body with something so passé!

      Er, soup came back into fashion a few years back- that means that it must surely be "out" again by now. Really, how inconsiderate can you get, expecting those poor hipsters to eat something that's *so* 2007.

      Better get them some cupcakes instead- oh hang on, that was last year's fad too, wasn't it?

      Oh, and make sure that's artisan bread from a small family bakery, not Tesco's mass-produced Chorleywood rubbish.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Holmes

    Their sales rate is insane

    It's hard to see how anyone except possibly Asus can beat them on price/performance ratio-until windows 8 tablets really become mass-market, if they ever do. That component bulk-buying means forget the new one, you can get an iPad 2 right now for £50 less than a Xoom 2 which has a lower battery life and a much more plasticky build quality. I think all they need to do now is find a way to fit an SD card reader (and maybe USB ports) into the shell without sacrificing reliability and they've got the market to themselves for the next few years. What google really need to do is find a way to get developers to develop proper tablet-optimized apps. But I don't think they care-for them mobile phone contracts are where there's a real market, especially as the only phone with ICS for the moment is their own one.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Their sales rate is insane

      > I think all they need to do now is find a way to fit an SD card reader (and maybe USB ports)

      Thunderbolt

      > they've got the market to themselves for the next few years

      They have anyway

      At the point when they fit Thunderbolt, the iPad becomes a real 'post PC' device because you can connect almost anything, and you've got a simple, standardised way to dock the thing and turn it into a laptop or desktop

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Their sales rate is insane

        It's as if they didn't put USB on the iPhone and iPad because it's impossible to use it to do that kind of thing.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: it's impossible to use it to do that kind of thing.

          So true. It's very difficult to use an iPhone to put USB on an iPad - and indeed, vice versa.

          You're much better off with a screwdriver and a hammer.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I've already secured funding for 80 units

    I'm going to be out early, before anyone else. I've secured enough funding to buy 80 units which will be going straight onto ebay. If they refuse to sell them, I have a letter from the local trading standards ready to show them. We'll see who's the winner :)

    1. Richard 81

      Re: I've already secured funding for 80 units

      You monster.

      1. andreas koch
        Pint

        Re: I've already secured funding for 80 units

        Just common sense: it's easier to slaughter sheep from a pen then deer in the forest.

    2. Jeebus

      Re: I've already secured funding for 80 units

      There's millions of stupid people out there. Good luck fleecing the easiest and most stupid of them all. I salute you sir/madam.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I've already secured funding for 80 units

        People aren't stupid or being fleeced. If they were stupid , they'd be buying Android tablets that are hardly selling at all. People know they're crap, so they're not selling.

        Even one of the Samsung execs said they're not doing well. Asus have scarcely sold 9000 Transformers in the UK.

        And now.... Back to your juvenile slagging off of apple and your dream world

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I've already secured funding for 80 units

      And while you're arguing, the iPads sell out. Let me know when you're going in - I enjoy watching futile displays of righteous indignation.

    4. SYNTAX__ERROR
      WTF?

      Re: I've already secured funding for 80 units

      Would you mind telling us exactly what that "letter from the local trading standards" actually says? As a business enters into a contract to sell you a product entirely at its own discretion.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: letter from trading standards

        It says -

        'Dear Anonymous Coward

        Your correspondence has been turned over to the police for DNA analysis. If you further breach the conditions of your ASBO, you can look forward to a substantial term of imprisonment. Stop stalking us!

        Yours sincerely ...'

  10. Wam

    Surely not?

    There won't be people queuing over night surely? I can sort-of understand if it was a brand new product, but this is just a tech upgrade?

    1. No, I will not fix your computer
      Facepalm

      Re: Surely not?

      'Fraid it's true, and what's even sillier my mates will be delivered by RM on Friday

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Surely not?

      I'm queueing overnight.

      I don't want an iPad, but it's my one of my few chances to leave the basement and rub up against living people.

  11. KJB
    Trollface

    http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

  12. Gary Riches

    Failure to understand

    What a lot of you aren't realising is that a lot of the tards/sheep/iSheep that are queueing aren't doing it _just_ to get the tablet. I queued for the iPhone 4S to do App promotion. I'm an iOS dev and I got my app mentioned in the Evening Standard, got the icon of the app on the news and was also in a couple of foreign papers.

    As a result my app is making a nice amount every month and all for 1 night.

    Nearly everyone in the queue before me also had a reason to queue - mainly promotion. The Apple hype ensure that there will be reporters for print, web and TV there.

    Personally although I was there for business I had a brilliant night. Beers, football in the street... All good fun.

    You can wait? That's cool. So can everyone else queueing... Just that we normally have reasons other than it's shiny to camp out all night.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Failure to understand

      The swines! Exploiting Apple's media event for their own purposes. Have they no shame?

  13. Nick Woodruffe
    Thumb Up

    New users here

    Got my two pads on order as I opted for the engraving option.

    One for me as since I have had an iPhone for the last 4 years, the number of times I turn the PC on to browse the web whilst watching TV has dropped significantly. Instant on is brillant for browsing during TV adverts.

    The second is for my mum who has her 70th Birthday next week. She asked for a Kindle as her mobile library has closed (council cost cutting). I figured the the ipad3 screen would be less eye strain than the ipad2 and as she also likes soduko and scrabble, it would be the better choice. She also paints watercolour so very tempted to add that Autodesk sketch app to the device.

    So two new customers here.

    I think with the icloud backup, no requirement for itunes, retina displays; that the iPhone and iPad along with the iOS have all finally come of age.

    1. SYNTAX__ERROR
      Thumb Down

      Re: New users here

      If she asked for a Kindle, why didn't you get her a Kindle?

      Regardless of the resolution of the screen, backlit is going to result in eye strain when used for reading for lengthy periods. E-ink would have been far preferable for that primary purpose.

      1. Gary Riches

        Re: New users here

        I manage to use a backlit screen for 8+ hours a day without any eye strain.

      2. graeme leggett Silver badge

        Re: New users here

        because it wouldn't work with the digital version of her local library service?

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