Apple has delayed the international launch of its iPad computer for a month, blaming "surprisingly strong US demand" that has outstripped its ability to produce them.
More than 500,000, it says, have been delivered to retailers and customers in its first week on sale.
The company had planned to launch the touch-screen device internationally at the end of April, after beginning sales in the US on 3 April. But the strong demand – which saw 300,000 delivered to shops and buyers in the first weekend – now means that it cannot hit that timetable.
The company said in a statement: "We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason –the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far."
Apple had previously said the iPad would be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.
The news will be a disappointment to thousands of people outside the US who wanted to get their hands on the machines, which have been lauded by reviewers. Some have managed to acquire the device from US sources – including the Guardian's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, who reviewed it last week.
The iPad is a touch-screen computer with a 9.7-inch screen which uses the same operating system as Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. It comes in two basic models, one with Wi-Fi wireless internet connectivity, and another with both Wi-Fi and 3G mobile connectivity. Only the Wi-Fi model is on sale at present, with the 3G version due to go on sale in the US at the end of the month.
Although Apple announced the iPad in January, and gave US pricing at the time – starting from $499 for the cheapest model – it has repeatedly declined to give any guidance about international prices. That may be to give it room for manoeuvre and let it raise the price of non-US versions to control demand. The US is by far the largest market for Apple products, generating about half its revenues.
Some had expected Apple to set out its international pricing for the iPad yesterday, when it updated its MacBook Pro line of laptops worldwide. The absence of pricing and of any facility to pre-order had looked surprising.
"Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad," the company said in a statement. "We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April."
Analysts have estimated that Apple could sell between 2.5m and 6m iPads this year, which would make it by far the largest seller of "tablet" computers in the world: it's estimated that about 1.25m non-Apple tablets will be sold in 2010.
Apple is due to announce its quarterly financial results on 20 April, though iPad sales will not be part of those, as the quarter being reported ended on 31 March.