It appears that if you are willing to start waiting … probably about now if you are in the Eastern U.S. … you might be able to get a “new iPad” before anyone else in the U.S. Walmart has said that at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, March 16, it will begin selling the “new iPad” at those of its stores that are open 24 hours.
What’s not clear is what model of the new iPad and how many new iPads Walmart will have in stock (the mega-giant retailer will, of course, also have the holdover iPad 2 16GB wi-fi only model on sale).
At first, it was reported that only the 16GB wi-fi only models would be on sale. Later, though, that was changed, as Walmart responded to inquiries with the rather vague “specific model availability varies by store.”
We would expect that Wal-mart would have extremely limited supplies of the new iPad, though. Apple retail stores will have the most. Exactly how many each of those stores will have is unknown.
In addition to Walmart and Apple, AT&T, Verizon, Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Target and RadioShack will also be selling the “new iPad” in the U.S.
Apple has already sold out its online pre-orders. A look at the company’s online store now says that orders will ship in two to three weeks.