Last Updated on Monday, 09 May 2011 09:54 Friday, 11 March 2011 20:21

Apple IPAD -2 Launch
Thursday, 10 March 2011 01:15

The Apple iPad 2 hits store shelves at 5 p.m. local time today all over the country, and the second-generation tablet is already generating a lot of buzz with a few eager customers lining up outside of some Apple stores at least a day in advance.

Unlike notable Apple product launches of the past, this time, the company didn't offer an extended pre order period. And it wasn't allowing customers to reserve devices weeks in advance of the sale. Instead, the company only began taking orders for the iPad 2 starting at 1 a.m. PT with orders expected to arrive at customers' homes sometime next week.

What does this mean for potential customers on launch day? It could mean long lines at some stores with potential shortages of certain models and configurations of the iPad 2.

But Apple employees and workers at its retail partners say they're ready. Unlike last year's launch, when the original iPad was available in Apple stores and select Best Buy stores, this year, the iPad 2 will be also be available at Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Verizon and AT&T retail locations, and online at Amazon.com.

A sales associate at the Apple store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan said that the store may sell out the first evening the iPad is on sale, but he said the store would get more shipments over the weekend to fulfill demand.

Across the street and down the block, a salesman at the Best Buy store on 62nd and Broadway in New York City, said the store has more iPad 2s in stock for the launch than it had for last year's launch of the initial iPad.

While he wouldn't guarantee that the store won't sell out the first day or even the second day, he was confident that this particular Best Buy location had enough iPad 2s to meet a higher demand than last year.