Apple's new pair of iPads started arriving in Apple stores, with some shipments coming in as early as Wednesday.
Last week, Apple unveiled the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 at a low-key media event in its headquarters in Cupertino. The iPhone maker did not specify a date when its new devices will become available but said that it will start shipping both slates later this week. Apple also started accepting pre-orders on Friday last week, with most models of the bigger iPad Air 2 available to ship two to four business days from pre-order. The iPad mini 3, however, seems to be better-stocked, as Apple's website says most models are available in 24 hours.
East Coast stores, including Apple's flagship retail store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, are already selling the Wi-Fi-only versions of both the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Austin, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. also have the Wi-Fi-only iPads on hand.
Apple stores on the West Coast are still waiting for their shipments to arrive. A spokesperson for the Apple store in downtown San Francisco told CNET the devices should be available in San Francisco as well as in the other Bay Area locations in Palo Alto and Menlo Park "in the next day or two."
The launch of the new iPads signifies one of the few unannounced Apple launches, which are normally punctuated with lots of spectacle and long lines of Apple fans celebrating the release of a new product from their favorite company. In the case of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which is widely considered the biggest product launch in Apple's 38-year history, some people camped outside Apple stores for weeks to get a hold of the new iPhones.
Last year, the original iPad Air also went on sale as soon as stores received their stocks, and Apple typically launches its Macs unannounced. The not-so-hyped rollout suggests how much (or how little) demand Apple expects for its new tablets. The first reviews of the new iPad Air 2 from technology publications given a review unit hit the headlines on Tuesday, and while most reviewers agree that Apple's thinner, lighter and faster slate is undeniably the best tablet available on the market today; the incremental improvements are not likely to convince existing tablet users to upgrade.
Apple's iPad remains a significant income earner for the company, but sales have seen a decline in the last three quarters. The latest quarterly earnings report shows iPad sales at $5.5 billion, a 14 percent drop from last year's figures and well below the $6.6 billion that Apple posted for its Mac revenue.
The tablet market, as a whole, is currently under siege by a slowly reviving Mac and PC industry and the growing interest in large-screen smartphones. Apple itself has given in to market demand by releasing its own 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, while other smartphone manufacturers have been owning the large-screen sector for a few years now.
Apple CEO Tim Cook believes the iPad has a "great future" and calls the temporary halt in sales a minor "speed bump," though he admits that consumers aren't buying new tablets as quickly as they upgrade their smartphones.
