Apple has delayed the international launch of its iPad tablet computer, blaming stronger-than-expected US demand for the device. “Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad,” noted the company in a statement today. “We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.  Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May.”

Apple said it will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will be the first international markets to sell the iPad, although it is not known whether only the WiFi model – not compatible with 3G networks – will be offered at launch (the same strategy Apple adopted in the US).