While it’s not totally surprising news given the company’s Apple “store within a store” displays, a new rumor finds that Best Buy may also be offering the iPad come next Saturday, April 3.
MacRumors is reporting that Best Buy “has reportedly begun preparations for the launch of Apple’s Wi-Fi iPad models on April 3rd, providing its retail store employees with details of events leading up to the launch.”
Not surprisingly, the iPad will be aimed only at those Best Buys offering the dedicated “store within a store” Apple Shop sections, which includes approximately 675 of the company’s more than 1,000 U.S. locations. The remainder of the locations -- as well as the company’s bestbuy.com website -- will not be carrying the new device.
For those of you hoping to skip the presumably long lines at your nearby Apple Store come the morning of April 3, Best Buy is not planning to open early on launch day, “as the company believes that it would offer little benefit due to a lack of sales competition, while incurring additional operational expense.” But it appears those are your own two choices to pick up an iPad this early in the game.
Best Buy is reportedly receiving display materials for the iPad launch early next week, and MacRumors notes that “store planograms indicate that two notebooks and an iMac will be displaced from the usual Apple Shop layout to accommodate four iPad demo units and associated accessories for display.”
Mysteriously, there are reportedly four separate SKUs for the demo iPad models, but Apple is only launching the three Wi-Fi models on April 3. No one seems to know what the fourth demo model may be, but rumors are swirling that Best Buy may receive a 3G model of the device -- not scheduled for release until late April -- as a demo.
We’ll all know soon enough.
