Apple Postpones iPad’s International Release

Apple says demand for its iPad tablet has outstripped supply forcing it to postpone, by one month, the worldwide release of the iPad. Apple did not specify if there would be any delay in shipping its 3G version of the iPad to U.S. customers. The 3G version of the iPad is due to ship later this month, according to Apple.

In a statement issued Wednesday Apple stated:

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. 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.

Apple originally said the iPad would be available “late April” in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K.