The Apple iPad 2 may have been out in the wild for nearly a month in the US but supply is still outstripping demand, this is partly due the lack of components along the supply chain and partly due to some underhand tactics by retailers.
Apple in the US is not too happy with Best Buy stores after they discovered the retailer was refusing to sell the iPad 2 despite having stock. Best Buy has reportedly been telling customers they have sold out of the second gen tablets as soon as their daily sales quota has been filled, this has prompted Apple to pull the product out of Best Buy stores in the US.
At this stage there is no indication that Best Buy UK has been affected, the product pages are still live on their official website although they do all seem to be out of stock.
Pulled from Best Buy?
Meanwhile supply of the iPad 2 is rumoured to be targeting a new market in Toys R Us stores in the US, an employee has told Modmyi that they are currently receiving sales training on the iPad 2 with the aim of rolling out the tablet in May 2011. Apple hasn’t targeted children in this way in the past but judging by the educational material on their own official site they could be going down the ‘learning tool’ route rather than a branding it as a toy, the iPad 2 is surely too expensive for a child’s toy?
So a mixed set of news relating to US facing iPad 2 suppliers. They do say ‘when one door closes another opens’ and if today’s news is accurate then it would seem Best Buys loss could be Toys R Us gain.
What do you think about the Best Buy saga and should Apple roll out the iPad in Toys ‘R’ Us stores?
