Shipping times for Apple’s popular second-generation tablet, the iPad 2, have come down to 1-3 business days, which shows that the Cupertino-based gadget maker has finally started catching up with demand.

Shortly following the launch of the iPad 2 in March, Apple was quoting shipping estimates of more than a month. From mid April to early July, the company's U.S. online store was quoting all models of its popular touchscreen tablet with shipping times of between 1-2 weeks. On July 8, they slashed the shipping time to 3-5 business days.

Analysts are of the view that the improvements in the shipping times should be seen as evidence that the company has overcome supply constraints, rather than viewing it as an indication of declining demand for the tablet.

Earlier, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said that they could not predict when supply would meet demand as the demand had been overwhelming.

Speaking during the earnings call, Mr. Cook had said, "Demand has been staggering, and I'm not going to predict when supply and demand will come into balance,” adding that the iPad 2 was "the mother of all backlogs."

The Wi-Fi only, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models of the iPad 2 cost $499, $599 and $699, respectively.