If you’re thinking of visiting Target for an iPad 2 later today, better think again.
We just got a report from the stockroom of one Target store, which has only five iPad 2s in stock for sale at 5PM today. They are all 64GB, WiFi-only models in black.
An employee at the store just sent us the following message with the picture above:
“stockroom we only got 5 of the 64gb wifi only black models insulting right.
Stock levels at big box retailers like Target and Best Buy were expected to be much lower than Apple’s retail stores, but this is shockingly low.
It’s not clear if this is the inventory level at all Target stores, but I’d say it’s typical. Apple is offering the iPad 2 for sale at about 10 different retailers, so stocks are likely to be stretched thin. Obviously, retailers are keeping their inventory levels secret: they don’t want to scare potential shoppers away.
The Target employee summed it up nicely: “Better off waitin outside apple or best buy.”
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
22 responses to “Uh Oh: One Target Store Has Only 5 iPad 2s, WiFi Only”
Obviously they’ll run out quick — but who knows, maybe they’ll get a delivery of a hundred in a few days time?
I called my Walmart in Milford, DE and they said they only had 4 and couldn’t tell me what models there were.
Uhhh… they only have 5 iPad 2 products or 5 64GB iPad 2 products???
So, anonymous Target employee sends you an email and from that you surmise it is both accurate and that it is “typical” of other Targets.
Ok.. tonights lottery number will have five balls selected – please surmise which ones for me, quick please!
my verizon store by me said they dont even know if they are going to get them at all
Target employees in Austin are telling everyone there is only 5 per Target everywhere.
My Target informs me that they will have five iPad 2s in stock at 5pm. I asked if they will have an AT&T 64GB in black and they indicated that all of there stock is WiFi only 16 GB units.
Walmart in Plattsburgh has 6 in stock… on a frist come first serve basis, although they dont know if theyll have any new shipment soon or tomorrow if these 6 are sold…
Best Buy in my town was no better. People lined up outside for a couple of hours beforehand, and they sold out in the first five minutes. I was maybe the 30th person in line and they sold out long before my turn. It was lame.
Was second in line at Target at 4:25 but found out they only had 5 white 32 GB models and I only have 16GB money. Went to Wally World Third in line and found out they only received two! Thing is they will trickle into retailers regularly but few people go to these stores so check with them every couple of days and you should get one soon.
My target had 3 32GB WiFi black, only. It happened to be the model I wanted. I got there at 3pm and was the first in line. The third and last person to get the iPad arrived at 4pm. Only about 3 people were turned away.