Earlier today the online Apple store went down, fuelling speculation that today is the day the company finally releases its hotly anticipated Retina iPad mini. A few hours later the online store came back and indeed the tablet finally became available for purchase. Amid rumors that supplies are going to be very tight throughout the holiday season, Apple said in a press release today that it is “working hard” to get as many Retina iPad mini units it can into the hands of customers.
The Retina iPad mini can be purchased right now through the company’s online store, it will also be available from authorized resellers as well as Apple’s carrier partners who will be selling cellular variants of the tablet. Today’s press release quotes Apple worldwide marketing SVP Phil Schiller saying that the response to the iPad Air has been “incredible,” and so far there have been no rumors of supply constraints for the full fledged iPad. However, even prior to its release, a number of reports were making the rounds, claiming that the Retina iPad mini won’t be able to meet demand at launch. Apple CEO Tim Cook even added fuel to the fire last month by saying that the company didn’t know if it will have enough supply for this particular quarter or not. Analysts believe that Retina iPad mini supplies are expected to improve in the first quarter of 2014, that’s when Samsung presumably starts making display panels for Apple.
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