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http://news.sky.com
April 14, 2010
Apple fans around the world will have to wait a little longer for the iPad as "surprisingly strong" demand in the US has delayed the international roll-out of the device.
The international launch of the iPad is delayed until May 10
Apple said it had delivered more than 500,000 iPads in the first week of its US launch - a figure "far higher than we predicted".
"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," the firm said in a statement.
"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 is the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far."
The California-based company launched the touchscreen tablet computer in the US on April 3.
It had planned to begin selling the device in late April in Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said last week that Apple was "making (iPads) as fast as we can".
"Evidently we can't make enough of them yet so we are going to have to try harder," Mr Jobs added.
Analyst Douglas McIntyre at 247WallSt.com said Apple has either "done too good a job marketing its iPad in the US" or "underestimated the number of units it would need to start to sell the product overseas".
"Apple has tripped, at least a bit, but the interest in the iPad seems great enough that it probably won't matter," he said.
But the delay was met with scepticism by independent technology analyst Carmi Levy.
"This is little more than a marketing strategy that is designed to stoke consumer demand in international markets even higher than it already is," he said.
Despite the iPad postponement, Apple's shares rose more than 1% to touch another all-time high.
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