yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Eee Pad Transformer General] stuntdouble:
It's all down to a series of unfortunate events. The Japanese earthquakes and tsunamis have unfortunately created a huge shortage in memory chips for an already bulging market for them. That's why I believe they have been concentrating on getting out as many 16gb units as possible with the limited supplies they had. While I agree Asus probably could have handled the marketing scenario better from a buyers perspective, from a business point of view they have done most things right. They've kept interest in their device alive, and pre-orders are extremely high.

I think the reason people have mentioned Americans in general might feel differently about it from other nations, is that the USA has already had a honeycomb device out and available for a month or so (Xoom), whereas for most other countries the Eee Pad is the first device available.

It won't just be Asus having supply issues of course, so I'm sure the delays will hit other manufacturers release dates.

While annoying having to wait longer for a nice new gadget to come through the post, I'll quote the guiness advert and say "good things come to those who wait".

(This post is a lot longer than I expected it to be. Sorry for waffling! :))
[Eee Pad Transformer General] foxmeister:
As far as I'm aware, the only docks in the UK are press review samples.

Regards,

Dave
[Eee Pad Transformer General] spokenwordd:
WTF is with the US bashing? Troll much?
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
How's this an "amazing job"?

* Take my order at a few minutes past midnight Pacific

* List product as still in stock *after* my order was taken

* Continue to list product as in stock, with a countdown showing stock fulfilled first by Amazon, then by Target, for a period of at least 8 minutes after my order was taken

* Tell me my order would be shipped overnight (as paid for), to be delivered 4/27

* Do absolutely nothing with my order for 27 hours, not even try to authorize my card, *or* contact me, but continue to list the delivery date as 4/27

* At 5am on 4/27 (and only 13 hours before last delivery time on the day I've been told my tablet will arrive), suddenly change my order to backordered -- even though I watched other people being told that stock was available for eight-plus minutes *after* my order was made.

* Then for the kicker, ship product out to people who placed their orders *after* me

That is not an amazing job. That's about as bad a job as it's possible to do, short of sending me something I didn't order.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] Zepius:
then go ahead and rage at amazon. not asus. your bad experience was with amazon.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
Well I do. Buying merchandise you don't plan to keep raises prices for everybody -- yourself included. When you return that merchandise, it cannot legally be sold as new any more. Refurb products are more expensive to the manufacturer (extra shipping and refurbishing costs), but sell for less to the consumer, so effectively you're taking money out of the manufacturer's pocket.

The manufacturer doesn't absorb that cost out of their profits. They turn around and pass that cost on to *you*, the customer, by increasing the initial cost of their products to cover those extra returns.

All you're doing is stealing from yourself, and your fellow customers. Way to go. I won't have any part of that. The only way I'll buy a product is if I plan to keep it, and the only way I'll return it is if it fails to work, or doesn't meet the manufacturer's specifications. (If I failed to read the specs before buying, that's my own fault.)
[Eee Pad Transformer General] pogul:
Apparently you misinterpreted my post.

My point was: Their communication to the customer on this whole thing has been horrendous.

A) Asus would have had a lot more happy customers if they had either pushed the launch back - announcing that they had much more demand than anticipated.

-OR-

B) Announced that they would still be launching on April 26th, but that they would have extremely limited supplies (and no docks) to help set expectations.

Their primary method of marketing and communication has been Facebook. It's not like it would be hard for them to post frank, relevant updates to their FB page to keep customers updated (as opposed to quoting tired old Sally Field lines about how much we love them).

Are you sure about that??

When I was following the UK launch, not only did folks get Transformer "bundles" which included keyboard docks - but also those that didn't get the bundle were able to order the keyboard from Asus at a $50 discount.

I disagree in this case. YES, they are selling the keyboard dock as an accessory, but their entire marketing campaign ("Like That, But Better)" is that it "Transforms" (see what I did there ;)) into a laptop / netbook.

The whole point of going with a Transformer over an Acer or any other tablet (or 3.0 tablet) is the keyboard dock.

Not having that dock available for the "launch" is simply laughable.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
I'm fairly confident the quake had nothing to do with it, and especially not memory.

According to EE|Times, only one memory manufacturer was even affected, and it expected no disruption to supply:

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-...atus-of-fabs-in-wake-of-disaster?pageNumber=0

By and large, most component suppliers also predicted relatively little impact.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
I'm fairly sure there were docks sold to the public in the UK, including directly from Asus' own store. Search will find the link.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
Great feature: User CP link in the title bar, Edit Ignore List at left, add the member name.

Life without seshmaru is sweet.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] gregjuice:
+1

I couldn't have said it better myself...
[Eee Pad Transformer General] foxmeister:
I'm 100% certain of this - none of the bundled Transformers have shipped yet in the UK, with the exception of a few review samples, and to date the separate keyboard is still not available.

Given how much cheaper you in the US are getting the Transformer for compared to the UK (even when you take out the VAT), I don't think you have too many grounds for complaints on the price of the keyboard when it does eventually ship.

Regards,

Dave
[Eee Pad Transformer General] foxmeister:
I'll repeat again! NO DOCKS HAVE SHIPPED IN THE UK!

As tweeted by AsusUK today:

Regards,

Dave
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
Fair enough, thanks for the info. So Asus managed to bodge the launch of the defining feature of their product worldwide, except in their home market, then, eh?
[Eee Pad Transformer General] stuntdouble:
This contradicts lots of other sites, but maybe I was wrong. Certainly feels that way as it's not just Asus who have had to push product launches back. Especially considering Apple was buying most chips on the market to fulfill their ipad2 orders.

If anyone got a keyboard dock in the UK they certainly didnt post online about it (unless they were a reviewer). I think the only way someone would have got one was by buying a store model. And even then most stores didnt even have the dock to show it off.

Anyways this Asus bashing is obviously within your right to do so but I don't agree. Had been eagerly waiting a year to get a hold of it and I'm really glad I managed to purchase one. Maybe I'm biased in some regards, but oh well.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
It's a lot easier to be calm when you're one of the lucky few.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] stuntdouble:
.......:D.......
[Eee Pad Transformer General] psinno:
I saw somewhere (probably in this very forum) some Taiwanese guy complaining it was impossible to get one in Taiwan.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] foxmeister:
I've heard that the dock sent out to reviewers has a significant issue in that the battery drains even when the tablet is detached, and this is supposedly being fixed by a firmware update.

I can imagine (note - this is just supposition!) that Asus wanted to get the Transformer out there as other tablets were launching at around the same time, and couldn't wait for the dock. For example, the Transformer beat the Xoom to launch in the UK by a few days.

Not that it helps you guys in the US in the slightest, but it should also be said that Asus UK is the global launch partner for the Transformer, and that shipments to the UK will be higher than other regions (see here).

Regards,

Dave
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
I've read some nonsense marketing-speke in my day, but really... Asus UK is the "global launch partner" of Asus Taiwan, and all the other Asus companies aren't? Sounds like complete codswallop to me.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] jinsoku3g:
This is pretty normal for a launch of any sorts.. I'm still holding out.. you have to. Geeze, look at the Nexus S 4G!
[Eee Pad Transformer General] psinno:
Maybe Amazon did a great in the US but my experience ordering from Amazon UK for delivery to Ireland was

- 9th April place order with estimated dispatch date of the 18th April

- 13th April notice the product now lists a launch date of 1st of June but the order still says 18th April

- 14th April get an email from Amazon saying the dispatch date is the 30th May

There is no way of knowing who screwed up. When you preorder dates can change and you have to accept that but a six week delay 1 week before it should be dispatched is very very shoddy work. Adding in the the US launch happens during the delay and it is more annoying. You guys deserve your launch and all but at this point there wasn't even an announced date. The cynic in me says they decided to switch the US launch date and redirected my Transformer to it. Anyhow another Android tablet I would have bought (may still) but couldn't. I'll add it to the pile with my imaginary Xoom (finally launched in Ireland last week). Next up the HTC Flyer.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
It's not just Amazon UK. Amazon US is sucking as well.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=13257248&postcount=32
[Eee Pad Transformer General] psinno:
Maybe I should just hold my nose and buy an iPad. Too bad really, got an email today from one of my users about how my app looks on his Xoom. Not much chance of my doing anything about that it seems.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] turtlesoup77:
Speaks volumes of your integrity.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] akashhhhh:
Might be worth trying to Google some of their PR contacts...
[Eee Pad Transformer General] wilbur-force:
Are people not being a bit harsh here ?

1) ASUS didnt predict the popularity of the unit ?

2) There has been a HUGE natural disaster in the East in case you hadnt noticed. Some items are in short supply. Just wait till you need a part for a Nissan car !? :eek:

In the scale of things its a simple choice. Wait or buy something else. ASUS arent the first people to underestimate popularity or the first to (maybe) limit stock to get press. Remember the Wii ? or the PS3 ? and arent the evil iPad2 units in short supply ???

My delivery has been delayed until 30th April. Im looking forward to it very much :D

Im certainly not going to 'go postal' on ASUS for deliberately making me wait :eek:

In the grand scheme of things its not a huge problem is it ? :o
[Eee Pad Transformer General] lordgodgeneral:
I agree and think people are over reacting a bit. Also from following the main sales thread, its no suprise that all the retailers where having a hard time to keep up with things.

In a matter of hours, who knows how many people were placing orders, canceling said orders and reordering as things shifted from back ordered to available to back ordered again on just about all the sites.

I mean there were posts where people had tablets ordered from 4 or 5 sites. If you want to blame anyone for the problems, throw them in as a big contributor.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] Zepius:
apparently to some people its like having their arms and legs cut off.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] madsquabbles:
you say that like i have some obligation or loyalty to big corporate department stores...:rolleyes:
[Eee Pad Transformer General] psinno:
Integrity isn't about anyone but yourself. Anyway I'm sure people with delayed orders do not mind you causing them.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] SlimDan22:
I don't think it is really Asus's fault, its the stores that had poor planing and communication

The stores should have had more information available on the transformer before launch and better trained their employees.

They should have also limited people from buying more then one tablet, which some retailers didnt

​
[Eee Pad Transformer General] djklmnop:
I can tell you with certainty that they sold out in 3 minutes. I was one of the many on IRC watching amazon like a hawk. Once it carries over to Target as the seller, then it's really out of Amazon's hands when it comes to promised dates.

I received my order confirmation at exactly 12:01am, I tried to order another one and got a "limit 1" error. I quickly logged out and into my second amazon account to place an order. Right when I pulled up the product to add to my cart, it was sold out at exactly 12:03am.

Once sold out, Target took over which means the reliability of your order drops considerably. I wouldn't blame Amazon for Target's shortcoming as much as you wouldn't blame ebay for hosting a terrible seller.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] nook-color:
Can I throw in Acer. They launched the A500 last week and are on the shelf. Maybe they can get some blame for a rushed ASUS launch.

Acer was going to fill the Low Priced quality tablet void - and suck up all the pent up demand. The ASUS launch gets them sitting on their hands for a few weeks to compare the 2 Tablets side by side.

It's all Acer's Fault :D
[Eee Pad Transformer General] drummr8:
what does this have anything to do with being American?

You sure are an arrogant douche.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
My order wasn't fulfilled by Target -- it was fulfilled by Amazon. The people whose orders *were* fulfilled by Target made them after I made mine.

And I was watching the product page closely. The countdown of orders fulfilled by Target didn't run out until 12 minutes past midnight Pacific.

I'm estimating my order as having been made by 4 minutes past midnight, and that's being generous -- honestly I'd be surprised if it wasn't made earlier. Unfortunately I didn't note the time down because I didn't expect an order that Amazon said *would* be shipped the same day, and with their page still showing Amazon-fulfilled stock available *after* my order was placed, was going to be a problem. My confirmation email took three quarters of an hour to show up.

Note also that we've also had at least one report of a user who ordered as late as a little after 9am Pacific receiving a tracking number.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] seshmaru:
it was a joke, I'm American as well. But people are buttserious. The rest of the world sees Americans as the noisiest whiniest country in the world. I would know since I've lived in 4 different countries.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] wilbur-force:
Id rank you second behind the Scottish :p

(DISCLAIMER: please note for the very serious minded that I am in fact joking)
[Eee Pad Transformer General] andyxover:
shipment delay

I'm sincerely sorry to hear that you didn't receive your transformer as expected,

To clear a few points, even people in Taiwan have not received their docking keyboard yet,

Acoording to facebook users no one in taiwan has received their keyboard yet.

While it might make more sense to build up more stock before going on launch, in today's market its extremely important to release it First, because once you buy a similar product, say xoom, you are not gonna spend another 400 dollars to get a similar product, even if it is better than xoom. Trying to think what Asus could have done better in this situation, maybe they could tell people exactly how many unit will be available on launch? but i know that wouldn't stop me from placing the order:p It sounded to me that the bigest problem here is from amazon, who ships product to people that placed the order after you, and didn't even have to curtesy to inform you that your product has turned to back order,, I hated when that happened to me too. it hurts not only their own reputation, but also Asus's. If you wont be around when they ship, Could you maybe have them ship urs to a P.O box? Or call UPS and see if they can hold it for you? Best wishes for you that everything works out.

Best
[Eee Pad Transformer General] madsquabbles:
We'd all like to think that. Prices will go up regardless if I buy and return or not. Even when they resell it as refurb they pull a profit. If they don't screw them. I've bought too many buggy faulty products to even care how my return affects them. How does Motorola feel about shipping multiple xoom models that aren't fully functional?
[Eee Pad Transformer General] wynand32:
Well, I guess I'm going to go ahead and toss my hat into this particular ring. I ordered at Amazon at 12:01am PST and received my confirmation email at 12:03am PST. My order is sitting at "Not Yet Shipping" with a delivery date of 4/28, which is where it's been since the order first showed up in my account.

Some others seem to had the same sorts of orders switch to backordered or a later delivery date, and so that's what I'm expecting to happen to mine. If it ships I'll come back here and update.

The only thing that makes me a bit angry about the situation is that if mine doesn't ship and goes on backorder, I lost other opportunities to get my TF. And if I then have to wait a week or more for new shipments, then that's all on Amazon for simply not telling me I don't actually have a unit ready to go.

Update: Mine just switched to "Shipping Soon." So, some kind of movement. Maybe I'll get lucky...
[Eee Pad Transformer General] madsquabbles:
and because I bought a xoom with a more than likely expectation to return it and the fact I have multiple pre orders with the intent of keeping only one makes me some kind of monster? wow you're easily impressed!

I got to laugh at most these reactions. I mean like your life is squeaky clean. I'm not even breaking a law.

if you think this is bad you should have seen what iwas doing before my first arrest. I swore I'd quit my more serious crimes after my first arrest. used my first and only get out of jail free card then.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
That I know for a fact to be incorrect, because I watched a YouTube video posted by a user who tried to buy the tablet and dock at a tradeshow in Taiwan. They were out of stock of the bundle, but they took an order at the show, and mailed it to him complete with an unexpected cleaning kit.

Thanks for the friendly reply, though.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] RCTMD:
Hey Andy, your Youtube video convinced me to be an early adopter, so thank you.

According to an ASUS seller in Taiwan, they're receiving keyboard docking units supposedly by next week.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] wtek:
Well my order was placed by my brother at 3.02am EST on my behalf. Email confirmation at 3.02am also, with delivery estimate of 4/29. Now its at "not yet shipped" (i.e. back order I've learned). I think this happened because we then changed the shipping method to 1 day after the order was placed. My point of frustration is that why don't they provide a disclaimer that by doing so my order would be going to the back of the order queue? A couple of people on the other thread said this and my brother now heard it from a amazon rep also. Do people change/pay more (3.99) shipping method for the privilege of joining the back of the order queue? Like other's if I knew this screw over job, I could have ordered from other sources that were available to me yesterday.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] jurrsaix:
I know you're upset, but what else did you expect after the UK launch?

I'm not going to blame ASUS, they at least saved some units for the US launch. They could have easily said, eh no, we'll send these to the UK backorders. Then pushed the US launch back. Then you'd have people complaining about pushing the release back. And have no one in the US with a tablet. At least some were able to get one here.

Instead, they knew it was limited, but they sent out what they had. Just because TD put in an order for 2000 doesn't mean ASUS guarunteed 2000 for launch. They sent what they had and the retailers sold through it.

The fiasco with shipping to some over others and all that drama lands on the retailers.

Either way, best of luck getting one before your trip.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] psinno:
If not meeting my standards upsets you then you should change yourself. Then again adjusting your personal moral code based on the whims of a stranger is a bit wimpy. Your call.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] H3llb0und:
I have been lied to by an Asus Australia rep on Facebook when I asked about the price difference between the US and Australia for the Transformer 16GB.

US$399 vs AU$599

And remember that the AU$ is stronger than the US$

Their responses:

I am Hugo Pinto on FB, and I think that response/lie from Asus Australia was what started the no GPS/back camera rumours.

Edit: for AU$599 I ordered the Transformer 16GB + Keyboard Dock from the US and I still have money left for dinner and drinks.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] seshmaru:
It isn't a lie, it's just an uninformed PR rep.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] H3llb0und:
I'm sorry, but that is a straight up LIE.

And I still don't understand how Asus set the price for the Transformer $200 more in Australia.

Taiwan is not far from here and we get screwed, the US is on the other side of the planet and get it $200 cheaper.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] knoxploration:
Seshmaru is a troll. I recommend just placing him on ignore. (User CP :: Edit Ignore List).
[Eee Pad Transformer General] seshmaru:
being uninformed, missinformed or dumb doesn't mean they're lying.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] H3llb0und:
LOL

When someone asks me about a service or anything related to the company I work for and I don't know the answer or I am not sure about something, I say that I don't know or at least that I am going to try to find out.

I don't answer the first thing that comes into my mind.

Saying that a HUGE price difference for the same product is because one of them doesn't have 2 hardware features is a LIE.

english is not my first language, but...
[Eee Pad Transformer General] seshmaru:
You said it yourself, lying is deliberate with the intent of deceiving. I'm not saying they didn't lie to you, all I'm saying it also could have not been a lie since they didn't know any better, AKA non-deliberate. Not that it makes it any better though since you still got misinformed which is ****ty.
[Eee Pad Transformer General] H3llb0und:
It was a LIE to cover up the robbery that is the price here in Australia.

Why do we have to pay 33% or 50% more for the exact same product here?

It was a lie / attempt to cover up a pricing FAIL
[Eee Pad Transformer General] seshmaru:
Not to be a **** but downunder always gets a lot of electronics with a 30% markup, I feel sorry for you guys ): last I heard games were 100 AU new?
[Eee Pad Transformer General] H3llb0und:
Thank god for Steam in some cases.

Play Asia has saved me a few times in the last 4 years I have been here. I am from Portugal :D
[Eee Pad Transformer General] Dummyaccount89:
If I had to sum up this thread in one picture:
[Eee Pad Transformer General] jabbawalkee:
To those of you coming up with excuses for Asus' major failure in this "launch," **** you! Asus dropped the ball...BIG TIME. They told everyone it would be available from a long list of retailers on April 26 when, in fact, it wasn't. More than half of the retailers didn't even have or receive any stock. Asus led us on and, in my opinion, lost a great deal of customers as a result. **** them, I'm happier with my new Acer Iconia anyhow. :p