International iPad Launch Delayed Until End Of May

Bad news for would-be international iPad buyers.  Apple have just announced that they are postponing the launch of the iPad outside of the US by one month, with the touchscreen tablet now not expected to arrive internationally until the end of May.

As for the reason, Apple say they've been surprised by the US demand for the iPad that was "far higher" than they predicted and "will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks."  That, combined with the "large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models" has obviously had a knock-on effect for stock availability.

Apple will announced international pricing on Monday May 10th, and they'll begin to accept preorders on the same day.  They're hoping – somewhat in vain, we'd expect – that international customers will take heart for the reasons behind the decision, however: "we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason–the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far."

Press Release:

Apple Media Advisory

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple today released the following statement:

Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad(TM). We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason–the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.

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