Reuters, Wellington/Sydney, March 25: Hundreds of customers lined up outside Apple stores in Australia and New Zealand on Friday for the international launch of the iPad 2, which has flown off the shelves in the United States leaving the company struggling to meet demand.
Analysts forecast some 1 million devices may have been sold in the first weekend of the launch in the United States, but many warn that it's not clear how supply constraints will affect availability following the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
The iPad 2, a thinner and faster version that features two cameras for video chat, was introduced in the United States on March 11. But some would-be buyers have expressed frustration at how difficult it has been to secure one of the wildly popular tablet computers, sparking speculation Apple misjudged demand.
It went on sale in New Zealand at 0400 GMT. One store in Wellington was allocated just 12 of the gadgets and they were snapped up in a matter of minutes.
Sales kick off in Australia at 0600 GMT and then roll out to other countries including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, and Spain.
'If it wasn't for the iPad, I wouldn't be in Australia right now,' said Alex Lee, a backpacker from Canada, who was the first in the queue outside the glass-fronted Apple store in Sydney's central business district. He said he diverted his travels from Singapore to attend the launch.
'It's like a habit. I've also lined up on Regent Street in London for the iPhone', added Lee, who had a folding chair and blanket and had spent two nights waiting.
Apple staff in Sydney, dressed in the company's blue branded shirts , handed out trays of sandwiches to those in the queue, some of whom had bedded down on blankets overnight before being awoken by bright sunshine.
Its retail price in Australia starts at A$579 ($568), against $499 in the United States. The iPad 1 started selling in Australia from A$629 when it was launched.
In Wellington, staff at electronics retailer JB HiFi said they had only received about a dozen iPad 2s and they were snapped up in about 10 minutes. A sales assistant said the store did know when the next delivery would come in.
The first iPad, which went on sale a year ago, sold 500,000 units in the first week and crossed the 1 million unit mark in 28 days. Nearly 15 million iPads were sold in nine months of 2010, two or three times as many as analysts had predicted.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Tuesday the company was 'working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.'
Fiona Martin, a spokeswoman for Apple in Australia, declined to comment on whether there was enough stock to meet demand.
'We don't comment on speculation, we've got plenty down there for all those folk that are in the queue.'
A prospective buyer in Wellington, 22-year-old student Ian MacDonald, said he had held off buying the first generation iPad because it lacked a camera and he wanted any bugs ironed out.
'This version looks way better, with the cameras and it beats all the other tablets because there are so many apps (applications),' he said.
Myles Jihme, a student from Malaysia, waiting outside the Apple store in Sydney said he intended to buy two iPads, the maximum allowed by Apple, and would auction one for charity. 'All the profits from the sale will go to Japan's disaster fund,' he said.
In addition to Friday's roll out, the iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and other countries in April.
Apple now faces increased competition from rivals. Samsung Electronics and Motorola have tablets on the market and Blackberry-maker Research In Motion and Hewlett-Packard Co are set to release tablets in coming months.
India cancels 14 more 'fake' pilot licences
NEW DELHI (AFP) – India's aviation regulator said Friday it had cancelled the licences of 14 more commercial pilots caught forging their qualifications in a spreading scandal that has rocked passenger confidence.
Cases of pilots exaggerating their flying time while training and other irregularities have emerged since a captain who made several bad landings was found to have submitted faked paperwork to gain her licence.
At least six pilots, including from the Air India, Indigo and SpiceJet airlines, have already been arrested as authorities check thousands of licences.
"We have cancelled the licences of 14 pilots who were flying passenger planes. All of them had submitted fake training records," Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief E.K. Bharat Bhusan told AFP.
All 14 pilots had procured their eligibility certificates from the Rajasthan State Flying School in western India, where police are checking instructors' logbooks.
A pilot needs to have completed a minimum 200 hours of flying to get a licence but several of the pilots from Rajasthan State Flying School had only completed 50-60 hours, officials say.
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