A somewhat surefire indicator that a new model of an Apple device is coming soon is when the current model begins to go out of stock at its online retailers. That"s exactly what has happened to the current iPad at various European stores.
The Carphone Warehouse, an official Apple retailer, is currently sold out of the 64GB version of the WiFi iPad and is sold out of every version of the WiFi + 3G model. Meanwhile, according to TechRadar, T-Mobile and Orange which officially carry the iPad 3G in Europe, have slashed the prices of the iPad. They are currently selling it for £99 on a two-year contract.
And now, 9to5 Mac has made aware that even more retailers and distributors are selling out. Ingram Micro is sold out of the 16GB and 64GB WiFi models and is also sold out of the 64GB WiFi + 3G model. In addition, they"re low on stock of every other model -- the 32GB WiFi model and the 16GB and 32GB WiFi + 3G models. 9to5 Mac was also told that some Future Shop stores, a retailer in Canada, is either sold out or low in stock of the iPad.
While it"s not entirely possible to predict when the iPad 2 will be released, it"s pretty safe to say we"ll see it in the next couple of weeks if Apple"s mobile release cycles are put into account. Last year, the iPad announcement took place in late January and was released in early April (the WiFi model that is, the 3G model took another month). And earlier this month, it was reported that Apple had begun production on the iPad 2, which would certainly indicate the company is using the same timetable as last year.
Image credit: 9to5 Mac