Once the Apple Store started taking preorders for the iPad Mini, the supply couldn’t cope with the demand. The white and silver model was sold out in just hours after being on sale and then the inventory held aside for preorders was also sold out. On the first weekend of availability the device sold 3 million units and only now things are getting back to normal.
A bit before the crazy holiday shopping, the shipping time for orders placed from the online Apple Store was 1 week. The 7.9 inch tablet got heavy demand and suppliers were having a hard time delivering parts. AU Optronics, for example, one of the Apple partners that delivers the tablet display had low yields problems. They are promising that normal yields will resume in the current quarter and at least for now, the shipping time is back to an average of 1 to 3 business days.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently blamed the suppliers for the shipping delays and claimed that things will be normal again by the end of the March quarter. Right now it seems that supply and demand have reached a balance earlier than expected. The shipping time keeps dropping, that can only make new customers happy.
