Apple New York Stores Sell Out IPad Minis After Sandy Hit - Bloomberg

New Yorkers looking to buy the latest version of Apple (AAPL) Inc.'s iPad had fewer stores to shop in today, after Hurricane Sandy induced power blackouts, hobbled transportation and left some retail outlets shuttered.

Supplies of the iPad mini are sold out at Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store, with white and silver models gone within 30 minutes, said Brian White, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets. Almost 600 people lined up outside the store, according to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos.

Apple, the world's most valuable company, and other retailers are grappling with transportation and supply complications as the New York metropolitan area begins the recovery from Sandy, which made landfall on Oct. 29. Two of Apple's five stores in the city are closed today due to the storm, as are some in New Jersey. Lines at the open locations suggest the weather won't hamper sales, White said.

"The iPad mini is off to a strong start and we believe this will be the next star in the Apple portfolio," White said.

Amy Bessette, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment.

Apple may sell 1 million to 1.5 million iPad minis in the launch weekend, Munster said in a research note. The iPad mini models with Wi-Fi went on sale today in the U.S., priced from $329 to $529 based on the amount of memory. Apple typically announces opening weekend sales figures on the Monday after the debut.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, fell 1.1 percent to $590 at 12:27 p.m. in New York. Through yesterday, the shares had risen 47 percent this year.

New York, a city of 8 million, is reeling after the largest tropical system measured in the Atlantic inundated transit tunnels and flooded parts of all five boroughs. The storm killed at least 92 people in the U.S., including 39 New Yorkers, and knocked out power to as many as 8.5 million homes and businesses along the East Coast. About 4.8 million customers remained without power yesterday, from South Carolina to Maine and as far west as Michigan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Rich Jaroslovsky reviews Apple Inc.'s latest addition to its tablet family, the iPad mini. (Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. Source: Bloomberg)