iPad shipping delays now stretch two to three weeks

As recently as Saturday, Apple said that new U.S. orders would ship on March 19 .

The U.S. delay now matches that of other markets where Apple plans to launch the new iPad this Friday, March 16. Orders placed with Apple's Australian, French, Japanese, German, Swiss, Singapore and U.K. online stores all show the same two-to-three-week delay.

The Hong Kong online store still says that the new iPad is currently unavailable.

By Apple's estimate, a new iPad ordered today won't ship until the March 26-April 2 timeframe, with delivery coming several days after that.

While the delays have not yet reached the level of last year's iPad 2 -- that tablet pushed shipping times to as long as five weeks within days of its debut -- they hint that Apple is facing a repeat of 2011's supply problems.