Korean carriers freeze iPad 2 sales after demand tops supply
updated 08:25 am EDT, Tue May 3, 2011
SK Telecom and KT halt iPad 2 sales due to demand
Korean cell carriers KT and SK Telecom both said Tuesday that they had temporarily stopped taking online orders of the iPad 2 due to high demand. Both froze their sales outside of retail after just a week, with SK Telecom saying its stock had been "depleted" in the short space of time. Demand was larger worldwide than supply, SK added.
Neither company said how many sales they had accumulated in the launch period. Demand may be high as Apple has been ramping up production and gradually catching up to supply in most of the countries that already had the newer iPad. Apple shipped 4.69 million iPads in the winter quarter ended in March but had said it could have sold more if supply hadn't been a problem.
Korea's sales regardless suggested strong genuine interest and were significant in coming from carrier-attached deals. Unlike North America, where iPad sales are more often Wi-Fi only versions and customers often actively avoid contract-attached 3G tablets like the Xoom, the KT and SK Telecom models are sold almost exclusively subsidized and were relatively popular with the first generation.
