You can’t say that no one saw this coming. When the Google Nexus 7 tablet was officially unveiled to the world with its NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and scorching $199 price tag, we knew it was going to be a hot seller. And it has very much lived up to our expectations.

The pre-orders for the Nexus 7 are shipping today, but it’s also available through a number of regular retailers too. Well, I use “available” in a figurative sense, because Reuters is reporting that several major retail chains are sold out of the tablet. GameStop’s inventory has been stripped dry and, if you check out the websites for Walmart and Sam’s Club, you’ll find that the Nexus 7 is “out of stock” too. If you wanted one, you probably should have preordered one.

While the exact numbers haven’t been released, a Gamestop spokesperson did say that they “blew through the first two allotments” and that the third allotment isn’t expected until some time in August. Yes, it may be true that Google isn’t making much on hardware, but I’m sure the team in Mountain View (and Taipei; let’s not forget about Asus) is grinning from ear to ear.

Via BGR