Microsoft confirmed this week’s rumors on the delayed launch for Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. The release date for the Xbox 360 has been set back to March 16th, 2006 for Hong Kong and Singapore. Australia and New Zealand are scheduled for March 23th. Xbox 360 Fanboy tells us:

The new launch dates have been set due to unprecedented global consumer demand stemming from challenges in ramping supply for a complex product like the Xbox 360. This is a short term manufacturing challenge and steps have been taken to increase supply to meet the strong consumer demand for the console.

Surely a frustrating situation for anyone waiting to get their mitts on one; however, with the current shortages, for those couple weeks, 360s might have been pretty scarce anyways. We’re guessing the launches in Mexico, Colombia, and Korea are still scheduled for February then.