MacBook Air: Woz predicts flop, store inventories say otherwise

Ars Technica has a very interesting article describing the strong demand and sustaining momentum behind the MacBook Air. While much of the evidence is anecdotal and based on the claims of retail sales associates, it is clear that in at least some markets, the MacBook Air is hard to keep in stock.

Although the product has been available for more than a month, Apple.com's shipping estimate is still between 5 and 7 business days. Amazon.com won't have more units in stock until March 16 and although BestBuy.com is showing that the units are shipping from the website, store availability is still pretty low. Looking at the local Best Buy stores in Atlanta, only 4 of the 12 stores were showing units available for pick-up.

I was at the Apple Store yesterday (and so much for the claims that it's a great place to meet guys -- maybe if you're into married men or aren't yet old enough to drive a car) and I couldn't help but notice that most customers were congregated around the Air. How many people were potential buyers and how many people just wanted to play, I cannot say, but it was certainly the most popular product in the store.

Of course, it is easy to argue that shipping delays are simply because Apple didn't place a big enough order with its suppliers, and while that may be true, it doesn't change the fact, as Ars points out, that the Air has been the top selling product according to the Apple Sales Rank widget for at least the last three weeks. Of course, Apple has not released the sales figures for the Air (we'll have to wait for the next quarterly report, and even then it's likely to be lumped in with the other laptop sales), so this is all speculation. Still, it appears that Woz might have been a bit out of touch when he recently commented, "I don't think [the Air] will be a hit."
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