West coast Apple Stores begin iPad 2 sales
updated 08:00 pm EST, Fri March 11, 2011
San Francisco lineup for iPad 2 swells to 4 blocks
MacNN has received reports that a large lineup is forming outside the San Francisco Apple Store in the downtown district, swelling from an earlier estimate of 140 people (quoted by AppleInsider earlier today) now stretching over four city blocks in length. Sunny weather in the city has allowed customers wanting an iPad 2 to begin the traditional lineup later than their New York City counterparts, where it was still raining earlier in the day following a massive rainstorm Thursday night, with well over 500 people in line nonetheless. Other cities are also reporting long lineups.
Earlier today, the first iPad 2 sold at Apple's flagship 5th Avenue store in New York City went to Hazem Sayed, an iOS app developer who bought the position for $900 from student Amanda Foote. Reports from Boston, Portland, Dallas and Austin (where the SXSW music festival is going on) and other places also confirm queues of hundreds of people, many having waited for hours. Some of the participants have indicated to news reporters that they already own the original iPad or have recently sold it in order to get the new one. Used-market prices for the original iPad are still reasonably high; a quick Craigslist check in various cities showed original iPad sale prices hovering between $400-600 depending on model.
In San Francisco, store staffers greeted crowds with bottled water, fruit, chips and granola bars. The iPad 2 will go on sale March 25 in 25 more countries, including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Italy and the UK, and lines are expected at Apple dealers in those countries as well. The high demand for first-day iPads may have prompted Apple to extend the wait time for iPad 2s being ordered online. [additional information and images via AppleInsider]
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
Four freaking city blocks! That's amazing!
Apple is going to crush the tablet market this year. I hope they can meet demand throughout the calendar year and go on to sell about 35 million tablets. If record iPad sales can't move Apple's share price to about $400, then I don't know what can. This early turnout of consumers to purchase the iPad 2 should have some sort of demoralizing effect on rival tablet vendors. I'm certain that the iPad 2 must be eating into Windows netbook sales and Windows licenses. I mean, what were all these people buying before the iPad came along. Could it be that many of these consumers purchasing iPad 2s are new to computing? With this kind of publicity, the iPad 2 should really be attracting a lot of attention from consumers that aren't even into buying such a device. C'mon, Apple. Sell one million this weekend just to annoy the Android fanbois.