It looks like there may be delays ahead for Apple’s iPad, with a ‘manufacturing bottleneck’ said to be pushing the launch date into April.
Peter Misek, an analyst at Canaccord Adams, now reckons March will be an iPad-free kind of month, commenting:
An unspecified production problem at the iPad’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March …far lower than the company’s initial estimate of 1,000K units.
The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple’s April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month.”
Misek doesn’t think the delay will affect overall iPad sales for the 2010 or 2011 fiscal years, which he estimates at a conservative 1.2 million and 3.5 million units, respectively.
In the UK, Apple is still keeping tight lipped about the exact official release date for the iPad.
There’s been no hint about pricing either, although that hasn’t stopped some websites speculating that it will cost from £389 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version.
[Via]
