Let's hop into a time machine and look back at the scale of rumors about Apple's iDevices in the past year. On our journey through the iPhone 5 rumors, we remember that the summer of 2011 was spent rummaging through the web and forecasting the future of the latest iPhone through each piece of circumstantial evidence to suggest the imminent announcement of the iPhone 5. And while the iPhone 3G and 4 are in sales, the general assumption is that retailers are trying to get rid of old stock while waiting for new Apple products. The same scenario took place when the iPhone 3 was released and the iPhone 3G was in the works.
Back in the present, we seem to be hearing the same news for the iPad generation. We are recently reading reports that the iPad 2 has started to go on sale. News from Apple Insider tells that one of the biggest stores in U.S., Meijer, has reduced in-store prices for 16GB iPad 2 with Wi-fi for $70. The company has announced the weekly sale to run from February 12 to 18 and is offered exclusively in the company's stores. The mere facts that Meijer has slated sales before the end of February 25 may be a sign that Apple will release the iPad 3 on February 29, the leap day of this year, although a lot of other reports are suggesting that the date may actually be March 7. Upon hearing this news, iPad 2 owners are now considering to sell iPad 16GB before the prices are cut. Meanwhile, non-iPad 2 owners are looking to buy their own units to take advantage of the sale.
It is good to note that looking back, the clearance sale for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4 came in a few months before the announcement of the iPhone 4S. In another published article last August, it was reported that Target had reduced the price of the iPhone 3G from AT&T for the price of only $19.99 and the iPhone 4 for $169.99 for the 16GB version and $249.99 for the 32GB version. The said store had reduced prices for Verizon iPhone 4 in the same way. Best Buy joined at the forefront on August 22. Experts and techies are also looking forward to the same pattern for the iPads and several blogs are now telling people to sell iPad 16GB used units soon before they lose value.
But since history has proven that retailers have a track record of wrong predictions, the price reductions for the iPad 2 are still a little hard to swallow for the moment. And while we have always expected that major retailers have an upper hand once the iPad 3 is released, it seems that the exclusion of Apple's mobile operator partners shows that the retail world remains largely shooting in the dark with regards to Apple product launches.
So dear iPad owner, before you sell iPad 16GB on eBay, think about how much you'll probably be getting from it and how much hassle it'll cause especially when price cuts are just around the corner. Meijer can just gamble an iPad 2 clearance sale, betting that the February 29 or March 7 date is the third major announcement for the iPad and will be followed by a rapid market release of the iPad 3 (it's a big company anyways). Our safe bet is that it will fall sometime between February 29 and March 29.If this bet turns out to be a winner, then it's about time for you to sell iPad 16GB online to eliminate your iPad 2 parts, which will allow you to start fresh with the iPad 3.
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