Apple re-working iPad 2 inventory shipments strategy
Apple is apparently trying to slow down the iPad 2 madness. A new report from AppleInsider claims that the company has instituted a new policy with iPad 2 shipments, requiring stores to keep received iPad 2 units in store for up to a day before actually releasing them for sale. That actually makes plenty of sense -- just pushing them out for sale as they arrive could really mess up inventory, and this policy gives the store managers enough time to make sure shipments are received and logged-in before they start going out the door to customers.
Of course, this means that customers may be lied to when they come in the store asking for iPad 2s. Employees may be telling those asking that shipments came in the same day, when they likely were received a day before (and, of course, you could be told the store doesn't have any product when it actually does in the back room). But this seems reasonable -- the report says it's "utter havoc" when iPads are going out as fast as they're coming in, and I believe it.
It's worth noting that Apple hasn't made any official statements on this one, but it's unlikely that it would share information on an internal policy like this anyway. If you're still hunting an iPad 2 at your local Apple Store and are told they're "expecting a shipment tomorrow morning," you might want to show up nice and early the next day.
