iPad Suppliers Deny Any Production Delays

The chief supplier for Apple’s iPad tablet is denying there will be any delay to the previously announced March shipment date. Foxconn Electronics told a trade publication Wednesday supplies for the tablet device “are on schedule.”

The China-based company also told DigiTimes 600,000-700,000 iPads will be ready in March and 1 million of the devices will ship in April. The iPad’s launch is unlikely to be delayed, unnamed sources told the publication.

Earlier this week Cannacord Adams analyst Peter Misek cautioned investors supplies might be limited due to an unspecified “manufacturing bottleneck.” A delay in the expected March launch was “possible” with just 300,000 iPads available this month, the analyst added.

The possibility of delays came amid word the iPad could begin shipping to Apple Stores for employee training by Mar. 10 with a Wi-Fi version of the tablet becoming available for sale to the public by late this month. The 3G version could appear in April or May, according to the report.

In related news, Gartner pronounced the iPad as “one of many new devices coming to market that will change the entire PC ecosystem and overlap it with the mobile phone industry.” The research firm estimates mobile PCs will account for 70 percent of shipments by 2012, and 90 percent of industry growth.

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[via Barron's and DigiTimes]

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