Are iPads shipped from Asia?

[mikespe]

I ordered an Apple Certified iPad 2 on Saturday evening & it was shipped out early this AM (Like around 2am)....when I looked at the FedEx tracking I noticed the abbreviations CN, HK and now TW...at first I thought CN was Canada but the HK threw me off. Then I looked at the city names & realized they were Asian and CN was China, HK was Hong Kong and TW was Taiwan...

Does Apple ship directly from China? I figured new iPads could come from there but I figured refurbished one's were taken care of in the States. I'm assuming I won't be charged any customs fees when it arrives correct? They did state free shipping when I ordered...

Thanks

 

[Seadog]

There is a small island that serves as a shipping port for most Apple electronics coming from China. When you buy an iPad, you are assigned one of the shipping units and it is routed to you. The way I understand it, every flight will leave full of products, and if they are not assigned to an individual, they will go to an Apple store for stocking.