Apple have announced that they will be postponing the international launch of the iPad by one month, so UK users won’t be able to get their chip-stained, ale-soaked hands on the device until the end of May.
The company say that the reason for the delay is larger than expected demand in the States, with the result that international users have been kicked to the back of the queue while they fulfil orders in America,
Here’s their full press 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. 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]
Vodafone and o2 throw their iHats into the ring
Both Vodafone and o2 have said that they will be offering the iPad in the UK, and will be announcing pricing details at the end of May.
Seeing as Orange, Virgin Mobile and Tesco Mobile are also currently flogging iPhones, we’ll wait to see if they’ll be joining the iPadders soon.
Update: Orange have joined the party too:
“Orange today announced that it will offer dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May(in France, UK, Spain and Switzerland).
[Via]
