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The Future of iPad Remains to Be Seen

In light of "surprisingly strong" demand for the iPad, Apple has been forced to postpone its oversees launch by a month. But, while the development all but confirms iPad's early success, the device's long-term prospects remain an open question.



Convinced that this is "a very positive sign for Apple," blogger Robert Scoble says: "It means that the iPad is moving outside of the 'Apple faithful' very quickly, which I have also observed in the stores ... The people I met buying iPads a few days later from the opening were quite different than those of us waiting in line."



What's more, "It may be a modest disappointment for Europe and the other countries, but it's in no way going to damage iPad sales," Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf assures Bloomberg. "You should never underestimate how Steve Jobs sees where the computing market is going."



Still, some are speculating that Apple is merely spinning supply issues as unprecedented success. "Before the iPad launched, reports attributed to Apple's Asian suppliers suggested that the company had hit production snags that might reduce a planned build of 1 million iPads by April 3 to as few as 300,000," notes CNNMoney.com. "Apple claims demand for the device is 'far higher' than it predicted, although it had never made public any unit sales predictions."



"So is this just a simple supply and demand issue?" asks GigaOm's Kevin Tofel. "I don't think so ... My suspicion is that Apple didn't predict the right product model mix between the Wi-Fi and 3G versions of its iPad."



What's more, Apple's official statement -- which describes the iPad as "a runaway success in the U.S. thus far" -- leaves many unanswered questions, according to ZDNet's Behind the Lines blog. "Apple's store isn't out of stock and iPads appear available," it reports. Therefore, "Is this a conscious decision by Apple to make ensure [sic] it can satisfy U.S. demand first? Or is this a case of a manufactured shortage?"

Read the whole story at Bloomberg et al. »

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