Sometimes it's impossible to trace the source of apprehension among buyers awaiting a product that they pre-ordered. For one reason or another, in fact, I've consistently heard from people asking if the "late April" arrival of the iPad 3G would be delayed. Of course, Apple has never publicly backed away from that promise, and if you remember correctly, the April 3rd release date of the basic Wi-Fi enabled iPad was similarly honored without a problem.

This morning, however, Apple apparently reached a boiling point and simply had enough of all the make-believe "apprehension." As a result, Apple took swift efforts to calm nervous iPad buyers about this mythical potential delay that was apparently invented out of thin air. Today, Apple reached out to its iPad 3G customers in the US via email with a blunt message that made it clear - the iPad 3G is coming... and soon!

In recent weeks, we've heard that international orders have been backed up for as far as the eye can see - a situation that may have prompted some of the apprehension now tangible in the iPad marketplace. What's more, Apple is now saying on its website that it can no longer promise delivery of the iPad 3G before May 7th. This announcement must have similarly created confusion as folks who pre-ordered their iPad 3G might have assumed that the new May 7th arrival date applied to them. In reality, May 7th is only the arrival date for those who order their iPad 3G from this day forward.

So, to reiterate, all is fine and dandy in Apple's inventory. And those who plopped down their credit card to get the iPad 3G in late April will still receive exactly what they were promised.