iPad Sold Out at Many Apple Stores

Did Apple underestimate the iPad’s early popularity? It certainly seems that way. Amid reports that the device is now outselling the Mac, comes news that iPad supplies are increasingly constrained as Apple (AAPL) prepares for its international launch.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster checked in with 50 U.S. Apple retail stores and found the iPad sold out or in limited supply at many of them.

“74 percent of the stores we checked were completely sold out of all iPad models. 26 percent had some WiFi models in stock, and no stores had any 3G models available,” the analyst reports.

“We note that the stores have implemented a reservation system, by which customers can request to be placed on a waitlist for future iPad shipments, notified upon arrival, and given 24 hours to pick up the iPad,” Munster adds. “One Apple store representative indicated that the in-store reservation system typically takes 4-7 days.”

Given that, the fact that iPad orders made at Apple’s online store are now listed as shipping in “7-10 business days,” up from a previous range of “5-7 business days,” and the international iPad launch next week, Munster figures supply constraints will easily last through the June quarter, reaching equilibrium in late fall.

“[The iPad launch] far exceeded our expectations. We were shocked by U.S. demand,” Apple COO Tim Cook said during Apple’s last earnings call.

Evidently that continues to be the case.

[Image credit: Gizmodo commenter Ahubbuch]