That didn't take too long, now, did it?
Ever since Apple (AAPL 0.01%) unveiled its iPad Mini and its premium price point, starting at $329 when its two primary rivals could be had for as little as $199, skeptics have doubted the device's ability to get a move on. Even our own Rick Munarriz expresses some healthy skepticism about the iPad Mini's ability to compete meaningfully with Amazon.com's (AMZN -2.30%) Kindle Fire HD and Google's (GOOGL -2.06%) Nexus 7.
Preorders for the white model of the new device sold out almost as quickly as they began last Friday, notably including the fully loaded 64 GB model that's priced at $529. That's more than twice the price of the most expensive Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7, both of which top out at $249, so clearly consumers are willing to pay a premium for the iPad Mini.
Over the weekend, the rest of Apple's preorder inventory of black models sold out, again including the pricey $529 version that costs even more than the entry-level full-sized iPad.
Source: Apple.
New preorders for any iPad mini now ship in two weeks, while the device will see its retail launch on Friday.
Apple hasn't announced any preorder unit sales figures, as it sometimes does, so it's unclear how many units are now spoken for. However, there have been concerns that the device could see supply constraints ,as have some of Apple's other products recently, because of display yields. Apple is tapping LG Display (LPL -1.98%) and AU Optronics (AUO 1.15%) for display panels and is estimated to have had a little fewer than 2 million units produced between September and October.
Despite fears that the new device is too pricey, the demand side of the equation appears robust. We can't say that quite yet on the supply side, though.
