Apple delays Aussie iPad shipping date?

update The Australian shipping date for Apple's iPad appears to have been shifted back from 28 May, with Apple's online store now listing the "estimated" date as "by June 7th".

(Screenshot by Delimiter)

It was only last Friday night that Apple had revealed 28 May as the Australian shipping date for the hotly anticipated tablet device, with orders being taken from last Monday.

Since this article was published, an Apple Australia spokesperson has clarified that those who ordered their iPad in the first batch would receive them on 28 May, but that strong demand had meant the company was needed to bring more iPads into the country — so the next batch of orders would go out slightly later.

The news also comes as mobile telco VHA has not yet revealed its Australian pricing plans for 3G mobile broadband access on the iPad, or whether it will directly sell the device.

Optus and Telstra have both released the pricing of their stand-alone iPad offerings earlier this week — but like other international telcos, neither will directly sell the iPad. Apple has previously said the iPad would be sold through its own retail outlets as well as its Australian website and select Apple authorised resellers — but it has not yet said precisely which authorised resellers will be able to sell the device.

So far, Optus' plans have the most variety on offer, with the telco offering both pre- and post-paid plans in Australia, unlike Telstra, which is only offering prepaid plans.