Last year, when the first iPad was launched, I predicted that the lines on launch day at Apple stores wouldn’t be as crazy as those for a typical iPhone launch. One of the major reasons for this was that Apple was allowing people to pre-order an iPad for a guaranteed launch-day delivery to your house. Why wait in line when you can just wait for the FedEx guy from your couch? And if you didn’t trust that day-one delivery promise, you could also reserve an iPad for pickup at the store, which made getting in line very early less crucial. You knew you would get one, no matter what, so why not just go later in the day?These factors, as well as others, led to lines that were still substantial, but no where near as crazy as previous iPhone launch days.
This year, for iPad 2, there is no pre-order option. You will not be able to order the iPad 2 on the web until it goes on sale at the physical stores. Which means you won’t get it until the next day, at best, if you choose the online route.
Some are theorizing that the reason for this change in policy is that Apple wants to be sure that the lines are long this year, in order to generate good press. After last month’s line-less Verizon iPhone launch, they say, Apple doesn’t want anyone drawing the wrong conclusions from smaller lines on iPad 2 Day.
I think this reasoning is flawed, however, for two reasons. First, if the plan were truly to maximize lines at the Apple Stores, Apple wouldn’t be offering iPad 2 at Best Buy, Wall Mart, Verizon, and other retail outlets as well on day one. They’d want to limit sales to the 200+ official US Apple retail stores.
Second, the best way to maximize lines would be to start sales March 12th—a Saturday—rather than 5:00 pm on the 11th—a Friday. A Friday launch day means that only those crazy enough to take a day off from work will be able to wait in line early. (People like me, essentially.) You launch on a Friday evening to MANAGE lines, not maximize them. Apple made it Friday because it KNOWS the lines will be too long on a Saturday. There’s a fine line between getting excited while waiting for a new product, and getting frustrated standing in the cold on a March evening.
So why no preorders, then? In a nutshell, the Smart Cover.
Apple knows that there is a lot of profit in the case market. And they’ve been handing that profit over to third parties for years. With the original iPad case last year, then with the iPhone 4 bumpers, Apple started making a grab for some of this very lucrative business. With the Smart Cover, Apple is taking the case market far more seriously than ever. Note, the Smart Cover earned more than five minutes of stage time during the Keynote, as well as its own video featured on the Apple home page. If you think Apple isn’t serious about getting as many of these into people’s hands as possible, you’re crazy.
So what does this have to do with preorders? It’s all about the up-sell. It’s a heck of a lot easier for an employee to talk you into a Smart Cover at a store than it is to push the same case online. It’s just plain easier to say no to your computer than a person. Plus, like most Apple products, the Smart Cover is bound to sell itself in person far better than in pictures.
So by driving most day-one sales to physical stores, Apple stands a much better chance of nabbing more early Smart Cover sales. At $39 and $69 a pop, that’s a lot of money for Apple. And a lot of word-of-mouth from early adopters to encourage even more sales later. Apple’s goal is to make the Smart Case not only a “must-have” accessory, but an assumed part of the iPad itself. It’s like adding an extra $40-$80 onto the purchase price of every iPad sold. That’s smart retail strategy.
