On Friday, I reported that just hours after the iPad 22 was made available though Apple’s online store, ship dates had slipped to two to three weeks. Stock has continued to dwindle, and on Tuesday the company pushed back ship dates further to four to five weeks.

The story at the company’s own stores and its retail partners was much the same. Many stores reported that they were completely sold out, with shipments only appearing at some stores Tuesday and not others. Yesterday, the Apple Bitch blog reported that some stores would open early — which they did in some cases — but many did not know until this morning whether the shipments they received included new iPads.

Anecdotal reports indicate that the reporting yesterday may have triggered some consumers to queue at various Apple Store locations (See the comments on this Macworld story, for example), typically much longer than the number of available iPad 2s. What does seem to be a repeated refrain is that even if stores receive shipments midday, they would not be available for sale until the next morning.

Unfortunately, the only recommendation if you’re still looking for one is to keep calling, and keep checking. Or wait until this all shakes out. One has to wonder if the iPad 2s international availability is again in jeopardy.

 
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