Oooooooo, this could be bad. Say, all you non-U.S.-residing viewers-- you know how you've been waiting for April to drag around ever since Steve Jobs announced at the beginning of January that the miniPod would go worldwide by then? And you know how you've been getting all tingly inside with the knowledge that April is now just days away and soon you'll be able to blow a significant wad of euros/kroners/pounds/pesos/whatever on your very own business card-sized miniPod in the anodized metallic color of your choice? Well, Apple has a little question for you: how's July sound?

We're guessing your reply is something along the lines of "July's not so good," only possibly expressed with all sorts of exciting foreign swear words with which we're sadly unfamiliar. But you're going to have to get used to this whole July thing, because faithful viewer Julian Clark was first to inform us that Apple has issued a press release announcing a three-month delay before the miniPod will make it past U.S. borders. Why the extra wait? Well, Apple says it's because of "much stronger than expected demand in the U.S. far exceeding the total planned supply through the end of June." In other words, Americans want more miniPods, so the rest of you foreigners are just going to have to get in line.

Hey, here come those funny foreign swear words again! Ooh, exotic!

We're sure that most of you aren't finding anything unusual about Apple's geographic distribution priorities, as you've probably dealt with it a gazillion times before-- not that that's a reason to be any less frustrated. If it makes you feel any better, though, at least the constrained supply isn't strictly Apple's fault; according to a Reuters article, the problem is that Apple can't get its hands on enough teensy hard drives to fulfill demand. Says Apple hardware marketing guy Greg Joswiak, "we're actually consuming just about all the 4 gigabyte, 1-inch drives they make. As they make more, we'll get more."

And just who's this "they" of whom Joz speaks? Why, it's none other than Hitachi-- a Japanese company! Now, we fully admit that we're not really up on that whole geopolitical scene, and what little knowledge of world events that we possess was gleaned by flipping channels past CNN. (It's between Fox and the Cartoon Network.) But based on what we've seen over the past couple of years, it seems to us that the New World Order now consists of 1) the U.S.A. and 2) Everyone Else, so that means the international miniPod delay is-- that's right-- all your fault. You have only yourselves to blame.

Hitachi reports that it "expects to boost production to meet customer demand," but that still doesn't change the fact that you non-Yanks now have to wait until July for miniPody goodness. Hang in there-- and here's hoping that this lateness with Apple ship dates isn't turning into some sort of trend. Remember the Xserve G5 delay? One missed ship date is unfortunate, and two could be coincidence; if Delay Number 3 shows up soon, though, that'll constitute an actual pattern. And not a pleasant one.