Katie Marsal
Some in the U.K. who purchased an iPad overseas notified AppleInsider on Friday that that their order has officially shipped. One order, placed on May 9, had its status updated to "shipped," though an estimated delivery date was not listed.
As with the U.S. launch, Apple has likely ensured that deliveries will not be made until Friday, May 28 — the international sale date. Stateside customers who tracked their order through UPS saw the shipment sit in a holding pattern for days before the Saturday, April 3 delivery.
Unlike the April 3 U.S. launch, when only the Wi-Fi iPad went on sale, international customers will be able to purchase both the Wi-Fi and 3G version of Apple's new multitouch device. Next week's launch will occur in nine countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K.
In preparation for the launch, Apple has also begun opening its App Store and iBookstore for the iPad in overseas countries. Engadget received word from numerous users this week that the European and Australian App Stores are now up and running.
In addition, Apple has begun populating its international iBookstores with foreign-language versions of free, public domain Project Gutenberg titles. The books, such as Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," are the same ones that have been available in the U.S. iBookstore since it launched.
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74 Comments
No wonder there are no iPads to be found in the stores!
No wonder there are no iPads to be found in the stores!
Pretty much. Looks like production levels are too low to really support the demand. Hope it stabilizes (or production ramp-up) in the next few weeks.
But hey... if Apple is selling all the units they can make, there are worse things to worry about.
... As with the U.S. launch, Apple has likely ensured that deliveries will not be made until Friday, May 28 -- the international sale date. Stateside customers who tracked their order through UPS saw the shipment sit in a holding pattern for days before the Saturday, April 3 delivery. ...
This is not likely to be true at all.
The US launch was different in that it was the first appearance of the product. Also the delivery notices all state that the delivery would happen *no later* than the 28th. That's a written contract AFAIKS.
The logistics of making sure that all of the iPads arrive *before* the end of the 28th is bad enough. Why would they burden themselves (for really no reason at all), with the task of making them all arrive all around the world both no sooner and also no later than the 28th. The enormity of that task is staggering.
If they can make them come sooner than the 28th they will, just to limit their liability if nothing else.
Well that is my iPad order and I do hope it gets here before the 28th...
But the TNT shipment does not show a delivery date as yet.. just sent TNT express China
Yay us. As with the early pre-order, iBookstore is not showing in the Canadian store yet. Though I did get ship notification of my SIM card.