Tag Archives: ipad confusion

Apple iPad 3 and iPad 4 Anger Latest – Exclusive – Apples Major Blunder and What You Need to Do to Upgrade

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As you probably know, along with launching the iPad mini yesterday, Apple also launched a major update to the iPad 3. Understandably, many people who just bought an iPad 3 are very upset that there product is immediately and unexpectedly out of date. See our full earlier article here for more.

At the moment the situation is unclear. There are reports that one Apple shop will give you a free upgrade if you bought the iPad 3 less than 30 days ago. This represents an extension to the standard 14 day return policy. However you’re still not going to be happy if you bought it 31,32 days ago etc. days ago.Today we tried to get to the bottom of the matter.

Our Findings

We bought an iPad 3 in early October (Outside the 14 day but inside the 30 day policy). We first called the Apple care centre. They told us it was a false rumour that there was a new iPad and that we were not entitled to a refund or an upgrade. This was  frustrating and irritating to say the least. However we had more success when we called the store where we’d bought the iPad from. They told us that if we returned the iPad to the store within thirty days of our purchase they would be happy to refund us.

So that’s what we did. We went into the store and explained the situation. The staff were helpful and friendly as always but initially reluctant. In fact we had to be pretty insistent (and point out that we’d already been offered a refund on the phone) before they  offered us a refund. There was no way to pre-order or upgrade we could only get a refund. The member of staff said to us, ‘We don’t really have a clear policy and we’re not sure what’s happening at the moment’. So we got our refund.

What You Need to Do

You need to call the store where you bought it and insist on an upgrade/refund. If your iPad was bought longer than 30 days ago you may struggle. I would try and call the store first, get the name of the person you spoke to and then go into the store in person. Try and not put this off as you don’t want to go over the thirty day period.

What is going on?

Apple’s management has really screwed up on this one. Apple should have predicted this before the launch and certainly should have had a clear policy in place by today. What’s obvious is that no one has any idea what’s going on and store managers seem to have been left to fend for themselves. This is a PR disaster.

Apple may be trying to ignore this and hope it goes away. In my opinion that’s a very poor strategy. They fear a mass recall of iPad 3s. Going by recent sales, 5 million iPad 3s might be eligible for a recall within the 30 day period. That’s a lot of iPads for a product which is no longer supposed to sold. It would be a big problem but Apple needs to bite the bullet on this one. At the moment a lot of people are upset and they risk doing lasting damage to the brand.

What’s clear is they didn’t plan for this. What a terrible strategy to offer us a refund and not an upgrade. We might take that money and spend it elsewhere (such is the strength of the product we won’t). There should have been a clear way to upgrade.

This incident raises serious questions about Apples strategy and its management. Where is the leadership?

Apple’s iPad 4 has Caused it a Huge Headache as Angry iPad 3 Owners Demand Justice

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Update – Our Investigation and What You Need to Do to Upgrade.

Apple just caused itself a huge unnecessary headache by bringing out the iPad 4. It’s not really a complete new iPad but more of a minor upgrade to the iPad 3.

The new iPad features a new A6 chip which Apple claims is twice as fast as the old A5. It also has twice as fast wi-fi, LTE connectivity and the new lightening connector charger which also charges the new iPhone and iPods. All of this is at the same $499 price.

The trouble is these are actually really significant differences and everyone who just bought an iPad 3 is extremely and understandably upset. As one person on twitter said the new iPad 4 chip will be powered by the tears of iPad 3 owners. In the end though consumers may actually be the ones to benefit. There are already reports that one Apple shop will give you a free upgrade if you bought the iPad3 less than 30 days ago. And if one Apple store is, it’s pretty certain they all will. However you’re still not going to be happy if you bought it 31,32 etc days ago.

My guess is that millions of iPads could be exchanged and this could end up damaging Apples brand and costing them a fortune.

My questions, why did Apple do this? Has it planned for the consequences? Where on earth does this leave the iPad 2? What happens to all the returned iPad 3s?

Part of the reason Apple has done this, is that it fears the new iPad mini will start cannibalising sales of the larger iPad. If this happens it could significantly cut into Apples margins. They felt they had to offer something extra to encourage people to spend the extra money and go for the larger version.

Of course the other reason is that this keeps Apple even further ahead of the competition. But has it planned for the upset iPad 3 owners? My guess is no, because the lack of clarity and the strange inconsistent messages we’re getting from Apple stores. If that’s the case it’s a big mistake and Apple has made a huge strategic error. But Apple must have planned for the large number of iPad3’s, it must have sitting in its inventory at the moment, which are now obsolete.  So what happens to them all.

The trouble is the iPad 3 is too similar to the iPad 4 to conveniently drop it into a lower price category. That would hurt margins and only upset iPad 3 buyers even more. Moreover this would also kill the iPad 2 and then its price would have to be dropped as well. So how does Apple offload the iPad 3? Could they be sent back to the factory and upgraded cheaply? If that’s the case the situation might not be to bad. The next few days will tell us a lot more.

Apple store iPad comparison

The iPad 2 pricing is also messed up in my mind. The iPad 2 now seems very expensive when it is only $100 more for an iPad4.

Apples share price is down 3% today. This is largely because it slipped out during the presentation that Apple had only sold 15 million iPads in the fourth quarter as opposed to the 18 million expected by analysts. But a better reason in my mind is the confusion between the iPad 4 and iPad 3. What a bizzare situation. Apple has damaged itself by releasing a better product at the same price.

Despite all this I felt the presentation was impressive. It is amazing how many new things Apple has announced in the last two months. The new 5mm iMac was particularly incredible, more impressive than the mini iPad in my opinion.