The conversations I had with Ping were that they HAD to do it that way or they would have run out product entirely and had major setbacks. They had limited product available when it was time to do the standard release here in the US. If they would have released the product here, they would have run out extremely fast and wouldn't have been able to catch back up. Releasing the line in Australia and Southeast Asia gave Ping a buffer period to create more product while operating at limited capacity. It wasn't ideal but it was the best choice for Ping by a long shot.
They are still suffering major set backs even with the delayed us release.. they are really struggling.. custom orders of current product is like 8 weeks back ordered.