Apple Stores Are Already Selling Out Of The iPad Mini

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The iPad mini already seems to be a huge hit with buyers, with Apple’s diminutive little tablet already selling out at the 5th Avenue Apple Store. You know, the one in New York City, a town ravaged by Hurricane Sandy that it is still half-flooded and half without power? Even a natural disaster can’t seem to keep people away.

Judging by the 5th Avenue Store alone, the iPad mini seems to have been a huge hit, with Fortune’s Philip Elmer DeWitt counting over 800 people waiting in line for Apple’s new tablet. “Only the iPhone 4 (1,300) and iPad 2 (1,190) drew bigger crowds.”

To be fair, it’s not entirely clear how this translates outside of New York City. In New York, mail delivery has largely been delayed by Hurricane Sandy, which means that Apple Stores may have been in shorter supply than normal of the tablet.

There have been other hints of larger supply shortages of the iPad mini: for example, the white 16GB iPad mini Wi-Fi sold out of all initial preorders a mere 20 minutes after becoming available last Friday.

Still, it appears that even given demand constraints, the iPad mini is likely to be a huge success for Apple. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster expects Apple to sell 1.5 million iPad minis this weekend.

Other stores we have checked appear to be either sold out, or on track to sell out today. One Apple Store salesperson tweeted that his store sold out in 45 minutes. If you want one, you’d better get down to an Apple Store soon.

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