iLounge

Apple has signed an agreement with DSGi to sell the iPad in the U.K. at 139 Currys, PC World, and Dixons Travel outlet shops from launch, 60 days before rivals Comet, Tesco, John Lewis, and the Carphone Warehouse. The Times Online, citing an internal DSGi staff memo, reports that the iPad will go on sale at 9 a.m. local time Friday in 70 PC World stores, 28 Curry shops, 22 Dixons Travel outlets, and 19 combined PC World/Currys stores. The memo also said that “[d]emand is expected to be high, mirroring what happened in the US,” and added that a detailed list of which stores will be offering the tablet will be posted online this week. Apple began taking online iPad pre-orders, the initial allotment of which quickly sold out, on May 10 in the U.K., but otherwise only operates 27 of its own stores in the region, hence the need for a third-party retail launch partner in addition to the country’s Apple Premium Resellers.