In spite of apparent supply constraints, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) seems to be faring well in the rollout of the new iPad Mini with Retina display. The company was quite secretive around the preorder and launch of the tablet, and it has exited Black Friday weekend with some supply of the popular tablet on the shelves.
Tablets expected to be the hot ticket item this year
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian J. White and his team conducted some checks on availability for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPad Mini with Retina display after Black Friday. One of the biggest concerns was whether there would be enough of the tablets to go around, especially after a report from the Consumer Electronics Association.
The organization found that tablets were expected to be the most popular consumer electronics product over Black Friday weekend. Of course this is a big positive for the iPad.
Apple’s iPad Mini supply holding up well
In doing their survey, White’s team covered 38 Apple Retail stores in the U.S. He reports today that the 64 GB and 128 GB models of the Retina iPad Mini with cellular capability were more difficult to find. However, all of the Wi-Fi only models for the iPad Mini with Retina display and the original iPad Mini were readily available. Also the 16 GB Retina iPad Mini with cellular capabilities was also pretty easy to find.
White reports that 57% of the Apple Retail Stores they surveyed were sold out of the Retina iPad Mini in the 128 GB model, while 42% of them were sold out of the 64 GB model. He found that 29% of them were sold out of the 32 GB models, while 3% sold out of the 16 GB models. He reports that the first-generation iPad Mini is only available in 16 GB capacity, but supply appears to be plentiful.
White continues to rate Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a Buy with a $777 per share price target.
