Is pre-ordering the new trend in mobile devices?
It seems that everyone is trying to get tablets out the door.
But lately I have noticed that most are for pre-order. The PlayBook was up for pre-order a few weeks ago, and now we have the HTC Flyer, Asus Transformer, and Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series all up for pre-order too. The Transformer is already showing as sold out at many online retailers.
My guess is that manufacturers of these tablets want to get their products out to the public before others and rather than wait until the device is actually ready to be released and sold, they offer it up on pre-order at many retailers and online to generate headlines and maintain buzz. In some case, I think it helps to create a sense of false urgency and maybe inflated demand too. But does it work? How many of you pre-order a gadget, knowing that a few weeks later you'll be able to pre-order something else instead?
