iPad Mini Launch Gets Short Queues: Sign of Times or Sign of Tides?

The iPad Mini debuted officially this morning, with the usual queues in USA, but not the usual number of participants. This could either be the sign of times and Apple’s end of reign of the sign of the tides caused by Sandy, that swept the East Coast. Although in the picture here we can spot a bit of sunshine, the infrastructure is still messed up by the storm…

New York City Apple Stores may get lower traffic, but what about the rest of the country? Apparently Apple Stores all over the country and the world have shorter lines than usual for product lines. People have thus reacted to the $329 price tag, to the debut of the Nexus 10, the cheaper Nexus 7 and the 32 GB 3G Nexus 7…. Even the preorders are slower than expected, so something is amiss here. Reuters is saying that in Australia the lines were hugely shorter than at past iPhone launches.

Some people in line only had to wait for an hour and a half, while people at the front were present there since 4.30 AM. In USA at Apple’s famous 5th Avenue Store in New York City there was only one person in line yesterday afternoon. In Japan and South Korea lines of over 300 people were confirmed and in Amsterdam there was a pretty good turnout. In UK it was a disaster, by Apple standards, with people walking in and buying an iPad Mini with no lines… Should we rush and call this a failure?

Related posts:

1. Apple iPad Mini to Launch This Year, Being Priced at an Affordable Rate
2. iPad Mini White Supplies Go Short Due to Massive Demand
3. Apple Broadcasting iPad Mini Launch Live on Its Website; Starting at 10:00 a.m. PDT

Source : androidtabletblog[dot]com

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32GB Nexus 7 in stock at Walmart for $249, 16GB model now $199

Although the Google event scheduled for this morning has been delayed as Hurricane Sandy bears downs on the East Coast, at least one retailer is going ahead with a refresh of their Nexus portfolio. Walmart’s website now lists the new 32GB Nexus 7 as in stock and features a price drop for the 16GB model. The 8GB Nexus 7 is no longer shown for sale.

The 32GB model comes in at the expected price point of $249, but perhaps the bigger news is that the 16GB model has dropped to $199, replacing the 8GB model at that price. It is unclear if Google plans to continue sales of the smallest storage option with a similar price cut as the 16GB model or if that device will be discontinued. Not present on the retailer’s site is the rumored 3G Nexus 7, which was also to be unveiled this morning at the New York City press event.

Google’s Play Store now lists both the 8GB and 16GB Nexus 7 as “coming soon” rather than on sale, a sign that a refresh should soon occur. It was expected that the tech giant would introduce a refreshed tablet lineup today that included the 32GB Nexus 7 along with a new Nexus 10 tablet developed by Samsung. The star of the show, however, would have been the LG Nexus 4, the next addition to the lineup of pure Google smartphones.

Google may still proceed with the rollout of the new Nexus 7 products today, but we are awaiting word from the company about plans to reschedule their Nexus event.

[Thanks, TLC!]

Source : androidtabletblog[dot]com

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