According to a report Tuesday morning from Bloomberg, the long-anticipated spring arrival of Apple’s second generation iPad may be pushed back to an early summer release.
Based on chatter emerging from Apple’s overseas suppliers, the iPad 2 launch may be put off until June at the earliest as a result of sustained production issues.
Bloomberg cites Yuanta Securities analysts who claim design changes in the popular tablet have prompted the alleged setbacks, which – it should be noted – are rumored, not confirmed.
Similar reports out of the Asian supply chain note that iPad 2 production began just weeks ago and was set back yet again by production halts resulting for the observance of the Chinese New Year holiday.
Analysts Vincent Chen and Allison Chen expressed to Bloomberg that Apple made the last minute design alterations shortly before the holiday. Consequently, Apple’s Chinese production partner Foxconn encountered no shortage of problems when production resumed.
“Our checks suggest new issues are being encountered with the new production and it is taking time to resolve them,” said Chen. “As a number of Android 3.0 tablets are being launched in April and May, the delay in iPad 2 shipments may give the Android camp a brief window of opportunity.”
If reports of the iPad 2 delay are correct, Apple may be poised to release both the iPhone 5 and its second generation tablet during the month of June.
