Word that Apple will ship the iPad April 3 and accept pre-orders Mar. 12 comes on the heels of the second analyst to talk delays. Thursday, an analyst said a ‘minor hiccup’ in production means Apple will need to wait until at least April before manufacturing ramps-up to 1 million iPads a month.
Temporary production issues resulted in just 200,000 to 250,000 iPads produced in March after an unexpected slowdown in February for Taiwanese manufacturers, according to Vijay Rakesh, analyst with Think Equity.
The analyst’s note to investors seemed to echo an earlier caution by Peter Misek of Canaccord Adams. Misek said Monday “unspecified production problems” could limit early iPad numbers to 300,000 and possible push the tablet’s launch date past March.
However, Rakesh told investors he did not see a serious flaw in the iPad as a cause for the temporary delay. “The delays do not appear to be (from) glass or manufacturing process” issues, he said.
After the initial talk of a delay in shipping the iPad, Taiwan-based suppliers refuted speculation that the tablet device would be held-up, claiming Apple could ship 600,000 to 700,000 in March and 1 million in April.
In its Friday announcement, Apple noted the April 3 shipment date applied only to the Wi-Fi version of the iPad. For those waiting for 3G support, the Cupertino, Calif. company said that version would ship “in late April.”
[via AppleInsider]
