THE State’s Macintosh users are still awaiting the arrival of the new Imac 2002.
THE State’s Macintosh users are still awaiting the arrival of the new Imac 2002.
Although the machine was launched in January, some of Perth’s Apple retailers are suggesting Australia is at the end of the queue when it comes to delivery of the computers.
Martin Healey, managing director of Desktop Applications, said it was possible his company would be waiting until the middle of next month for its supply of high-end Imacs to arrive.
He also was uncertain of how many machines Desktop Applications would be allocated, but the company had already received more than 40 orders form customers.
Other Apple retailers, who declined to be named, said they had a similar number of customer orders for the machines.
The high-end 800Mhz Imac with DVD burner will be the first of the three Imac models to arrive in Perth, but the other two models – an entry-level and a mid-range machine – will not be shipped until March and are not expected to arrive in Perth until April.
Desktop Applications received four Imacs on February 15 – three were sent to customers who placed orders in January and one was retained as the company’s demonstration model.
But Mr Healey is not getting too upset by the Imac’s non-appearance.
“We’re getting so used to stock shortages that we should be more angry than we are,” Mr Healey said. “But there is a political angle to it too. You could say Apple has such good products that are in such demand that it’s hard to get hold of them.”
Apple’s Australian corporate affairs manager, Myrna Van Pelt, said Imac units were being shipped to Australia in volumes that would allow 90 per cent of the order backlog from January to be filled.
She said retailers should be seeing relief in their inventory flow this week, and added that pre-orders for the new Imac had been “phenomenal” compared with when the first Imacs were released three years ago.
