Apple delays UK iPad launch by a month

Apple's iPad tablet will be made available in the UK and other countries outside the US from the end of May, after the company delayed the international launch by a month.

According to Apple, demand for the iPad in the US has been "far higher" than predicted. The company said it delivered more than 500,000 units being in the first week of sale and it now has many US pre-orders in the queue for delivery by the end of April.

The company has therefore made the "difficult decision" to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May, it said on Wednesday.

"We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, 10 May," Apple said. "We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news."

Before Wednesday's announcement, the iPad was due to go on sale in the UK at the end of April — timing that itself reflected a delay from the original March timescale for a UK launch of the Wi-Fi-only model of the device.

Meanwhile, Haaretz has reported that Israeli authorities have been confiscating incoming iPads at the border. On Wednesday, the newspaper quoted officials as saying the Wi-Fi broadcast levels used in the iPad were too low-powered for use in Israel and in Europe, which has similar technical standards to those in Israel.