Apple Inc. had planned to release the computer in Japan on March 25. It hasn’t set a new date, Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, said today in a telephone interview. The company also has closed a retail store in the quake-damaged city of Sendai.

“We are delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan while the country and our team focuses on recovering from the recent disaster,” Kerris said. “Our hearts go out to the people of Japan, including our employees and their families who have been impacted by this terrible tragedy.”

The iPad line is the fastest-selling technology product in history, measured by revenue, according to Creative Strategies Inc. Apple’s sales in Japan accounted for about $4 billion last year, or 6.1 percent of total revenue. The impact from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake on Apple will be minimal this quarter, according to estimates from Piper Jaffray Cos.

The release of the iPad 2 in 25 other countries on March 25 is on track, Kerris said. The fallout from the earthquake will have less than a 1 percent impact on sales in the quarter that ends this month, said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. The impact would be less than 3 percent in the June quarter, even in a worst-case scenario, he said.