iPad UK release date goes back - again

Bad news if you're holding your breath for the iPad - the release date for the UK has been put back, again. Unless you've already ordered, you won't be getting hold of one on the original release date, May 28; you'll have to wait until at least June 7, Apple is saying now.

This is not the first delay in getting iPads out to UK consumers - Apple has already pushed the date back once, owing to unexpected demand for the device in the US.  Quite why Apple should not expect its devices to sell like hotcakes isn't clear, but the company shifted over a million iPads in the first month of sales in the states.  The latest delay is also being put down to demand, with experts speculating that the new timescale is to give Apple time to ship more of the units from factories, having already gone through its first allocation.

An iPad will set you back anything from £429 for the Wi-Fi only 16GB model, up to £699 for the Wi-Fi plus 3G 64GB option; and despite initial doubts about exactly where the device fits into the consumer electronics market, it is expected to be just as popular here as it has been in America.

Apple has chosen not to go the subsidy route with the iPad, so there are no cheap iPads to be had from network operators in exchange for signing up to a lengthy contract - instead the device is available from Apple and selected retail partners, and the networks have set up a number of data tariffs on fairly short contracts.