Apple can’t keep up with the demand for the 17-inch flat panel iMac, which is both a blessing and a curse, according to a USA Today report.
Though Gateway is pitting its Profile 4 system against the iMac in new ads (see separate story), those who want a 17-inch iMac may have to wait weeks before getting their hands on one. USA Today reports that at an Apple retail store in New York City, there’s a waiting list with 1,000 names; there’s a two- to three-week wait for the iMacs at the Tysons Corner store; and it’s “day to day” in Miami and Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, the high demand isn’t necessarily good news.
A shortage could dampen sales for Apple’s historically strong back-to-school quarter, the article said. Up to 65 percent of Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter Mac shipments are education-related, IDC analyst David Daoud said. And “college students and professionals want to get their hands on the 17-inch iMac because it takes up little space in dorm rooms and workplaces,” Sweta Dash, director of liquid-crystal display (LCD) research at iSuppli/Stanford Resources, said in the article.