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Looking forward to picking up an Apple iPad when it goes on sale here at the end of this month? If you're planning to put in an advance order, you may have a little longer to wait.

Apple's UK online store is now saying the "magical" gadget may not ship to pre-order punters for more than a week after the iPad goes on sale.

Due on 28 May, the tablet will now ship "by 7 June", the site says.

Apple may, of course, simply be managing expectations. The site's stated ship window allows any time up to that date. But it suggests the UK's initial allocation of online-sourced iPads has now been used up, leaving whatever units Apple has assigned to its own retail outlets.

Even in the US, Apple's online shop there says newly requested iPads will go out a week to ten days after you place your order.

All of which is a sign that Apple is still having trouble getting enough iPads into its sales channels to satisfy demand.

Apple last week claimed it had sold more than a million of the things.

We notice that eBay has a fair few iPads on offer: quite a number of new ones from buyers seeking to capitalise upon on the short supply, but also a lot of Wi-Fi only models that fans want to dispose of now that the 3G version is available. ®

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