New iPad release draws muted interest in Las Vegas

William Pratt's belongings were sprawled across a bench Friday morning in the largely empty Fashion Show mall.

Pratt ignored the unwieldy-looking messenger bag holding his Dell laptop. With the bright white packaging of the new iPad lying next to him, he sat engrossed in his new toy.

Pratt was one of hundreds of people who lined up in front of local Apple stores to await the 8 a.m. release of the company's third-generation tablet. The new iPad, which starts at $499, was available to pre-order last week for a Friday delivery. However, Apple now says there's a two- to three-week shipping delay for online orders. There's also demand in countries where the new iPad isn't available yet.

Despite competition from cheaper tablet computers such as Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire, the iPad remains the most popular. Apple Inc. has sold more than 55 million iPads since its debut in 2010. The new, third model comes with a faster processor, a much sharper screen and an improved camera, though the changes aren't as big as the upgrade from the original model to the iPad 2.

Consumers in New York and Madison, Wis., lined up in the wee hours Friday morning, some even queuing overnight to be the first iPad 3 owners. At Apple's flagship retail store on New York's Fifth Avenue, the composition of the line, and the way many customers were paying for two iPads each with wads of cash, suggested that many are destined for resale abroad.

But shoppers in Las Vegas were decidedly more low-key, many showing up just before the stores opened.

Elaine and Peter Pi from Sturgis, S.D., were in town for the weekend and decided to survey the line at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace's Apple store. There were only 75 or so waiting, so the Pis filed to the back.

"It wasn't bad, so we thought we'd stay," Elaine said.

There is no Apple store in their small town. Elaine Pi used her iPhone to record video of Apple employees' release-day antics, which included cheering and high-fiving the crowd, and sent it to her kids back home.

"When Microsoft has a new product, they don't have a line like this," Peter said. "It's worth the wait," Elaine added.

A few dozen people behind the Pis were Isabella Dillon, 8, and sister Dalaney, 6, from Chicago. Isabella was buying an iPad. Dalaney wanted the iPod Touch. Isabella already owns a Touch, she said, and wanted the new iPad after she "saw the video ads for it."

Their grandfather, Chuck Kimmel, laughed as the girls detailed their planned purchases. He, of course, would be paying.

Ah, the power of advertising.

Apple isn't the only place you can find the new iPad. AT&T stores across the Valley were also selling the tablets, which run on the company's 4G LTE network.

Robert Kemple, AT&T's Las Vegas area retail sales manager, said some of the company's 14 local stores had a handful of people lined up before the 9 a.m. opening. The new 64-gigabyte iPad is nearly sold out at AT&T stores across the city.

At Fashion Show, Apple employees wheeled around a cart loaded with coffee and doughnuts for those in line.

Pratt quickly got down to business after waiting with some 150 other iPad buyers for his chance to snap up the gadget, immediately turning on the device and checking e-mails.

A contractor working with the military in Afghanistan, Pratt's frequent travels prompted his investment in his first tablet. The cast-aside Dell laptop is too clunky to use on airplanes, he said.

As for the experience of having to wait in line?

"It was entirely too (much) hype,'' he said, "but, that's Apple."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Caitlin McGarry at cmcgarry@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273.