By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Canadian iPad pre-orders placed on May 10th have started shipping in time for the big May 28th international launch date. It seems that both the 3G+W-Fi and the Wi-Fi versions of the iPads have started shipping as Apple has started notifying customers who placed online orders. The Rogers MicroSIM card, which accompanies the 3G+WiFi variant, started shipping separately late last week.
A large iPad billboard in Toronto's Eaton Centre
The 3G+Wi-Fi variant of the iPad, which began shipping in the US late April, has been in short supply in most US Apple Retail stores. Apple has sold over 1,000,000 iPads since its April 3rd launch. The iPad was slated for international release late April but was delayed by a month due to high demand and short US supply. Apple delayed the device's launch in order to fulfill US orders and properly ramp up production.
Similar to the US iPad launch, the shipped iPads are likely to go into a holding pattern until the 28th where they are expected to be delivered. They don't expect them to arrive sooner than that date. It is still uncertain if the Apple Retail stores will be selling iPad's on the 28th. We think it is likely that a limited number of the devices will be sold in store.