Apple's iPad production hit by display shortages

While the Norwegian Prime Minister may be running his country using one (image), we know most customers in the U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland must wait until next month to get hold of their iPads – now it appears production problems may cause further delays in Apple’s global iPad roll-out.

Citing higher than anticipated demand, Apple last week delayed introduction of the iPad until May in those key new markets noted above. Now it seems screen production difficulties are impacting the speed with which the company can ramp up iPad production.

iSuppli analyst, Andrew Rassweiler, tells Bloomberg production the 9.7-inch screen – previously revealed to be the most expensive single component of the device – is facing problems.