It will come as little surprise to many that Apple has reportedly sold out of the iPad 2 in most of the 25 countries that received the second generation tablet just this past Friday. According to multiple consumer reports and just as many published mainstream media investigations, the tablet was largely sold out by Saturday in almost every market in which it became available just 24 hours earlier.
By 5:00 pm Friday in London, images had surfaced of long lines outside of some stores that likely contained more people than the store contained iPad 2s. Such was the case in Germany, Australia, Canada, and countless other nations that have watched iPad 2 fever grip the US during the past two weeks.
According to Fortune magazine, Apple's Opera Store in Paris sailed through an inventory of better than 3,000 iPad 2s between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Friday alone. By Saturday morning, the long lines greeted the official start of business. And the "shelves were bare" long before