iPad Shortage After "Unspecified Production Problem" Tips Analyst

Everything was going so smoothly in the run-up to the iPad launch; we're overdue a pessimistic analyst opinion, certainly.  Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek has bravely stepped into the breach with word of an "unspecified production problem" at Hon Hai Precision, manufacturers of the iPad, which he reckons will shave available launch units down to just 300,000.

That, Misek warns, is "far lower than the company's initial estimate of 1,000K units," paving the way for the inevitable "iPad shortages!" headlines.  It'll also have a knock-on effect, Misek believes, to the number of units available in April 2010, and in fact he's suggesting that Apple might even delay the iPad launch altogether for a month.

Nonetheless, Misek reckons Apple will sell 1.2m iPads in the 2010 financial year and a further 3.5m units in the 2011 financial year.  While we're all for mysterious production delays and conspiracy theories, we can't imagine Apple delaying the WiFi version of the iPad; instead, they'd likely paint any stock shortages as glowingly positive.  We can almost read the press release now: "iPad a sell-out sales success!"