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WELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Hundreds of customers unsmooth up outside Apple stores in state and New Sjaelland on weekday for the planetary start of the iPad 2, which has flown soured the shelves in the United States leaving the consort struggling to foregather demand.

Analysts prognosticate whatever 1 meg devices haw hit been sold in the prototypal weekend of the start in the United States, but whatever monish that it's not clear how cater constraints module change availability mass the Nihon seism and tsunami.

Apple plans to listing discover the newborn iPad on weekday to 25 markets including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, and Spain.

The iPad 2, a thinner and faster edition that features digit cameras for recording chat, was introduced in the United States on March 11. But whatever would-be buyers hit spoken interference at how difficult it has been to bonded one of the wildly favourite tablet computers, sparking reflection Apple misjudged demand.

"If it wasn't for the iPad, I wouldn't be in state correct now," said Alex Lee, a backpacker from Canada, who was the prototypal in the line outside the glass-fronted Apple accumulation in Sydney's central business district. He said he pleased his travels from Singapore to listen the launch.

"It's like a habit. I've also unsmooth up on Regent Street in author for the iPhone," additional Lee, who had a folding lead and bedding and had spent digit nights waiting.

Blue-shirted Apple staff in Sydney handed discover trays of sandwiches to those in the queue, whatever of whom had bedded downbound on blankets long before being awoken by bright sunshine.

The iPad 2 goes on understanding at 5 p.m. topical instance (0400) instance in New Sjaelland and at 0600 instance on the easterly shore of Australia, before income kick soured in another markets.

Its retail toll in state starts at A$579 ($568), against $499 in the United States.

Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a evidence on weekday the consort was "experiencing awful obligation for iPad 2 in the U.S." and additional "We revalue everyone's patience and we are employed hard to build sufficiency iPads for everyone."

Fiona Martin, a spokeswoman for Apple in Australia, declined to interpret on whether there was sufficiency hit to foregather demand.

"We don't interpret on speculation, we've got plentitude downbound there for every those sept that are in the queue."

In New Zealand, a shop supporter at JB HiFi, one of Wellington's major electronic shops, said there had been a unceasing course of grouping asking about the iPad.

"We haven't modify seen it, we don't undergo how whatever we're getting, but there'll be big obligation you can bet," said the assistant.

A likely buyer, 22-year-old enrollee Ian MacDonald, said he had held soured purchase the prototypal procreation iPad because it lacked a camera and he desired some bugs smoothened out.

"This edition looks artefact better, with the cameras and it beats every the another tablets because there are so whatever apps (applications)," he said.

In constituent to Friday's rollout, Apple said the iPad 2 module be acquirable in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April.

JAPAN SUPPLY CONCERNS

Analysts are concerned that Apple module grappling shortages of key components for the iPad 2 because of the seism and wave that struck Nihon digit weeks ago.

Several key components in the newborn edition of Apple's favourite iPad become from Japan, including the battery and the flash memory utilised to accumulation penalization and recording on the device, according to IT investigate house iSuppli.

Apple delayed income of the iPad 2 in Japan, but has said that had null to do with some factor shortages.

"We move Apple to grappling accumulated push in meeting iPad 2 and iPhone 4 obligation in the ordinal quarter," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Doug Reid wrote recently. "Although it is early to gauge the extent of factor cater shortages, we see risk to our iPad and iPhone organisation estimates in the June quarter."

That said, the move instance on delivery of online orders has shortened to 3-4 weeks in past life from as high as 6-7 weeks, suggesting factor shortages hit not reached grave levels.

The iPad digit also faces accumulated competition. Samsung Electronics and Motorola hit tablets on the mart and Blackberry-maker Research In Motion and Hewlett-Packard Co are ordered to promulgation tablets in coming months.

(Reporting by Cecile Lefort and Amy Pyett in Sydney and Gyles Beckford in Wellington; Additional reporting by king Chan in Los Angeles; Writing by Ed Davies)

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