This really should not come as a surprise to anyone considering the aftermath of recent natural disasters in Japan, but Apple is officially pumping the brakes on the iPad 2 release date.
[UPDATE April 29, 2011 — SEE THIS STORY FOR JAPAN RELEASE DATE]
According to a Reuters news report published today, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said “we are delaying the launch of iPad 2 in Japan while the country and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster”.
iPad 2 was originally planned for a March 25th release in Japan, to go along with the rest of the countries on the global release schedule.
Unfortunately no one could have predicted an awful 8.9-magnitude earthquake followed by an even worse Tsunami. Japan is in a state of crisis, and is certainly in no position to welcome the new iPad.
Due to the nature of this disaster, the ongoing relief effort, and the heightened tension around the looming nuclear meltdown, it could be a while before the Japanese Apple faithful get their hands on iPad 2.
Apple has revealed no plans to put Japan back on the iPad 2 release road map either, and we wouldn’t expect them to until the relief effort is over.
Apple is also likely to focus on potential component supply shortages over the coming weeks, as a normally abundant supply from Japan is going to be increasingly scarce through the year.
Apple denies any supply concerns, of course, but we are sure they are spread out fairly evenly in terms of global supply chains.
Not everyone is going to have the reach that Apple does, though, so this could certainly have an impact on new tablet pricing and product availability from competitors.
We’ll see what happens. For now its all efforts on relief, recovery, and rebuilding in Japan.
We wish the best to all of our friends and their families in Japan. Find out how you can help.
