Apple shipped more than 500,000 iPads during the first week the multimedia tablet was available in the U.S., and that high demand has pushed Apple to delay its International launch until the end of May.
“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,” the company said in a statement. “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 also said that iPad 3G pre-orders in the U.S. will ship by the end of April.
News that iPad 3G shipments are still on schedule in the U.S. probably isn’t much consolation for hopeful buyers in other countries, nor is the news that the iPad is a “runaway success.” At least shoppers outside the U.S. finally know when they can pre-order their iPads, even if they don’t yet know how much they’ll have to pay.