iPad preorders officially sold out

The third generation iPad was officially revealed in San Francisco not even a week ago, but users now looking to pre-order the device will almost certainly not be getting their brand new iPads in time for the March 16^th launch.

According to a statement from Apple to USA Today, “Customer response to the new iPad has been off the charts and the quantity available for pre-order has been purchased.” The company did stress, however, that users can still order online but that any orders beginning today will likely have delayed shipment times.

The situation has supposedly gotten even worse for users outside of North America, as the source is reporting shipping delays of up to three weeks for most other countries. It is unknown if Apple is simply shifting international units to meet the high demand in the U.S. or if iPad production is expected to be slow, or both. The Cupertino Company has yet to release pre-order sales figures.

The new iPad will launch in 10 countries by the end of this upcoming week with 24 more countries to follow in the following week. As previously rumored, users can expect a Retina Display at 2048x1536 pixels, a dual-core 1GHz A5X CPU with a quad-core PowerVR GPU and the same 9.7-inch screen size. Retail prices begin at $499 for the 16GB model, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see units pop up around the net for even more.

Both Verizon and AT&T will offer limited 4G data plans at $15 and $20 per month, respectively.

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