iPad delay for wider release

iPad delay

America may have seen Apple's latest release of the iPad, but the rest of the world is going to have to wait as Apple have delayed the release of their touchscreen tablet computer by a month.

Customers in the UK - as well as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland - will have to wait before getting an iPad for themselves. Now, Apple will launch the device at the end of May, with pre-orders being accepted from 10 May.

The product builds on the success of Apple's iPhone and iPod, staking its claim in the middle ground between smartphones and laptop computers.

Apple have released a statement explaining the delay is due to "surprisingly strong" demand in the US, where it sold 300,000 units in its first day.

"Demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks," said Apple.

The company shipped more than 500,000 iPads during the first week and expects demand to exceed its supply for the next several weeks, according to a statement today, BusinessWeek reports.

iPad launch

Prices for the first iPad models start at $499 in the US, they have wi-fi but not 3G connectivity.

Hundreds of new iPad owners complained about connection problems on the Apple support page shortly after the launch of the device on 3 April. Apple suggested a fix yet problems are still being reported.

Analyst Ian Fogg from Forrester Research told BBC News that Apple's reason for the delay was "credible."

"The iPad is in a new category of devices - for that reason I think it would have been very hard for Apple to have accurately predicted sales before launch," he said.

"There is a possibility of manufacturing or component problems but it's more likely that they simply didn't forecast demand."

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