Apple pushes back UK iPad release till late May

International shipping for the iPad will now begin at the end of May

Apple has pushed back the UK launch dates of its iPad by a month. The tablet device will now ship in late May, instead of late April as initially planned.

According to Apple, the reason for the delay is strong demand from US buyers, which the firm said was surprising.

"Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad," Apple said.

"We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April."

International shipping for iPads will now begin at the end of May, but Apple will unveil long-awaited international pricing slightly ahead of that on Monday 10 May, when it will also start taking online pre-orders.

Apple had this message for its disappointed international fans: "We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason - the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far."