iPad 2 puts on a show.
Apple's new tablet is expected to sell 600 units in the first 24 hours.
The iPad 2 received applause at its launch on March 2nd and continues to impress in its first hours of sales. Stock on Apple's online stores was already sold out at the start of online sales in the early hours of Friday morning. In physical stores in the United States, sales began only at 19 pm on the same day and have already sold 300 units. Experts expect the number to reach 600 units by the end of the first 24 hours, more than the first version of the tablet.
As usual, Americans lined up to buy the device, which has new features, is thinner and faster than the first one. And delivery times are already changing too. At the start of sales of the new tablet, the delivery time was 3 to 5 business days, rising to 5 to 7 business days about three hours later and jumping to 2 to 3 weeks of waiting.
The iPad is the fastest-selling electronic device of all time, measured by revenue. This week, for example, Microsoft entered the Guinness Book of Records for selling 10 million Kinects – an accessory for the Xbox console – but that figure was measured by the number of units sold. The first iPad brought Apple billions of dollars in revenue in just three months and had 15 million units sold in nine months.
The new Apple tablet model doesn't yet have a release date for Brazil. It's worth remembering that the iPad 1 (now cheaper) only arrived on the Brazilian market in December of last year, exactly eight months after its official launch in the US.
Walmart and Extra will sell iPads.
Walmart and Extra supermarket physical stores will begin selling the Apple tablet starting next Monday. For now, it will only be the first generation, as the second generation has not yet arrived in the country. Until now, the chains only sold it in their online stores. In physical stores, the iPad was sold at Fnac, Saraiva, Fast Shop, Ponto Frio, and authorized Apple retailers. The device will be sold in 38 Walmart stores, including the Bompreço banner in the Northeast and Big in the South.
Extra will begin selling the iPad in four stores in São Paulo, a number expected to reach 20 in the coming weeks. The expectation is that Brazilian retail will reach sales of 300 tablets in the national market in 2011, according to the consulting firm IDC Brazil.
The idea behind the supermarket chains is to bring the iPad to regions where Apple didn't have a physical presence, such as Fortaleza. The product will have the same price, set by Apple. The cheapest one currently costs R$ 1.300.