As we reported yesterday, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer is the Android Honeycomb device no one seems to have.
Indeed, major etailers like Target, Best Buy, and Amazon all list the tablet as either sold out or on backorder.
Usually we’d associate such a shortage with a product that has been flying off the shelves and making headlines.
But as Nicole Scott of Netbook News explains, the lack of Transformers in stock can be attributed to “massive shortages” of necessary components, meaning that Asus is only capable of (realistically) producing “very small” quantities.
“According to our source, the Taiwanese hardware manufacturer can only deliver 10,000 units a month of this 10-inch Tegra 2 tablet,” wrote Scott.
“If you’re extremely disturbed by this because you’ve been trying to hunt one down you’ll be happy to know that ASUS is not ok with this and is seeking volumes of 300,000 units a month. It appears that component shortages will not be overcome until mid June so until then we’ve got a bottleneck and back log of orders.”
Unsurprisingly, Asus has denied it is facing component shortages, telling the UK-based Thinq that production is “ramping up nicely” in the face of greater-than-expected demand.
“Various sources are saying that production has slowed. [But] this is untrue. Production has been increasing steadily since the first shipments left the factory, and we will continue to see increasing quantities delivered to UK retailers,” claimed Asus rep John Swatton.
“[Yes], we have implemented a number of additional testing procedures for the Eee Pad Transformer to ensure an unrivaled user-experience… This has resulted in delays to a number of shipments to the UK… Initial demand for the Eee Pad Transformer has [also] been far beyond our expectations.”
