Good news appears to be filtering down to the email inboxes of those who have been waiting patiently for the Wi-Fi + Cellular version of the fantastic new 7.9-inch iPad mini. When Apple announced the device at the California Theatre last month, it would have been painful to a lot of customers to learn that the release was being staggered with the initial launch of the Wi-Fi model only. Those US based technology fans that bit the bullet and pre-ordered the Wi-Fi + Cellular variant should hopefully be seeing their mini tablet landing within the next five business days according to official Apple email correspondence.
As part of an email campaign to bring the good news to customers, Apple has been informing consumers that the LTE capable device is now preparing for shipment, with the initial wave set to leave suppliers as part of their onward journey hopefully by the end of next week. Although the mail will bring a smile to the face of those receiving it, it doesn’t actually go into any intricate details about when customers can actually expect the tablet to arrive, nor does it provide any shipping details or tracking numbers for the consignment.
Pre-orders of the LTE iPad mini were pretty much put through blind by customers with Apple giving no real estimation of when the new 7.9-inch device would actually be delivered. The initial word from the company was that the device would be available in mid-November, a date that was then moved to November 21st before eventually we saw the delivery emails pouring in today.
It also seems that a lot of the initial online inventory of the cellular iPad mini has already been allocated to pre-order customers. Individual Apple websites throughout Europe are showing a late November delivery estimation, with the Apple.com site in the United States informing potential customers that they will have to wait for two weeks before the iPad is dispatched. UK based stocks seem to be some of the hardest hit through online channels, with no immediate availability of the LTE or Wi-Fi only models.
It’ll be interesting to see the official sales numbers of the iPad mini alone when Apple post them, but with their stocks at seriously low levels, it would seem that customers have once again responded positively to an Apple hardware launch.
(via SlashGear)
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.
