Given Apple’s history fulfilling a yearly iOS device refresh cycle, we’ve been taking the iPad 2’s debut in late March or early April as read, but if a recent analyst report is to be believed, Cupertino might very well miss that day… delaying the iPad 2 into June.
According to a report by Yuanta analysts Vincent and Alison Chen, the iPad 2 may be delayed until June because of “production bottlenecks” at manufacturer Hon Hai Precision.
“Our checks suggest new issues are being encountered with the new production and it is taking time to resolve them,” said Chen in the report. “As a number of Android 3.0 tablets are being launched in April and May, the delay in iPad 2 shipments may give the Android camp a brief window of opportunity.”
Even if Chen’s report is accurate, it’s not likely to be much of a window of opportunity, given the inability of Android tablet makers to compete with the iPad on price.
Personally, we doubt this rumor: Apple’s not going to delay the iPad 2 into June, the same month the iPhone 5 is due to ship. Shipping two much-in-demand iOS devices in the same month simply guarantees a smaller volume of sales of both.
Even if there is a bottleneck, I believe Apple would opt to do the same thing they did last time they had a shortage of iPads: cut out the rest of the world and ship limited numbers of the iPad 2 in America only until they’ve shored up their supply problems, leading with the WiFi-only model.
