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Apple Reduces iPad Shipping Delay

Apple yesterday said that it would start shipping iPad within 24 hours of order, 170 days after Apple (AAPL) began taking pre-orders for the iPad. Orders placed today now ship within 24 hours, like any other Apple product except the iPhone.

For several months, customers had to wait an estimated 7 to 10 days for their order to ship. A few weeks ago, iPad shipping times quietly improved to between 3 and 5 days.

Getting iPad production up to speed has been a long slow process. Apple basically ran out of product the first weekend and didn't catch up for months. The iPad 3G launch had to be pushed back, the international roll-out postponed by a month, and shipping delays at Apple's online store reached as much as three weeks (15 business days).

A similar situation occurred with preorders for the 3G-enabled version of the iPad: Early preorders received the device by the scheduled late April target, and those slower to order the device found their iPads delayed until May 7. As well, Apple even went as far as to delay the international launch date for iPads by a full month. Instead of being able to preorder Wi-Fi and 3G iPads shortly after the initial iPad launch for their American brethren, anxious owners in the U.K., France, Japan, and Italy—amongst other countries—found themselves forced to wait until early May to preorder, late May to ship (or June 7 to ship, if preordered after May 12).

Actually, Apple's reduction of iPad shipping delay is a good news for iPad lovers, as well as iPhone 4 fans. iPad delay has ended but it remains to be seen when Apple will succeed in catching up with the delay related to the iPhone 4, which went on sale from June 24 and went out of stock shortly. The iPhone 4 did record shattering business as 1.7 million units were sold in just three days.