AppleInsider Staff
Shipping times of one to two weeks are not just limited to America. Other countries, including Canada, Mexico and Australia, also ship in the same timeframe. Apple's online stores in Europe, however, still estimate a wait of two to three weeks.
The improved shipping times are yet another sign that supply for the iPad 2 is catching up with demand. Since the device launched in the U.S. and 25 other countries around the world in March, Apple has seen huge demand for the second-generation device.
Wednesday's change to shipping times comes weeks after they improved to two to three weeks in early April. Prior to that, new buyers had to wait over a month for their iPad 2 to ship from Apple.
The improved shipping times also come as Apple has expanded retail availability of the iPad 2. On Sunday, some Toys R Us locations in the U.S. began selling Apple's tablet, and in late March, the iPad 2 went on sale at 500 stores owned by RadioShack.
This month, the iPad 2 is scheduled to launch in Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore, as well as additional yet-unnamed countries. Like retail availability in the U.S., international expansion of the iPad 2 has occurred at a much faster pace than with the first-generation iPad.
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Mike Wuerthele
23 Comments
Sounds like the disruptions from the Japan disasters may have been overstated...
[edit] Either that or Apple has done a heroic job of locating and procuring what they need! I suppose it goes to show what a few billion on hand can make possible!
Mine was just shipped this morning! Getting it on the 26th Cant wait!
How does anyone know this means supply is increasing? Perhaps after the initial rush demand is simply slacking off. (Though I would personally put more stock in the former proposition... Go Apple!)
How does anyone know this means supply is increasing? Perhaps after the initial rush demand is simply slacking off. (Though I would personally put more stock in the former proposition... Go Apple!)
That's expected, but they also must have had lots of backorderes to fill, and international launches, so that's probably a manufacturing improvement. Other manufacturers were probably more than happy to get Apple's contracts.
If demand lagged, all they'd have to do is launch it in China. Despite the cheap clones, there are more than enough people who could and would happily buy the iPad.
How is it that we get tons of reports saying how supplies of components are constrained due to the situation in Japan yet this report says, essentially, the opposite? Am I missing something here?