Calm your fears about whether the disaster in Japan could also strike your long-awaited iPad 2. If anything, the impact on iPad 2 supplies has been only “modest,” according to one high-profile Apple analyst. Concerns expressed earlier now seem to be resolved.
“We believe the most critical suppliers are back up and running following the earthquake and the impact to supply will be modest,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Friday. Deliveries of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 could be slowed by one or two weeks, he writes.
Apple recently reduced its U.S. iPad 2 lead times, suggesting there is cause for the more optimistic tone. Last week, wait times extended up to four weeks as suppliers expressed uncertainty how long it would be before production returned to normal levels. Reportedly, five critical iPad 2 components could have been affected by the incidents in Japan.
In a stroke of good luck, the shrinking delays came as Apple begins selling the next-generation tablet to 25 more countries, starting today.
