Why is it taking so long to ship a laptop?

I'm in the same boat.  Same circumstances; Same model; different dates. Ordered mine early August and got a delivery date of September 24. Contacted CS several times and was told they were 'expediting' the delivery.  They weren't and they didn't.  When I questioned one of their support reps in a chat session about the terminology he was using when referencing the delivery process, (where a tracking number was created, but FedEx had no data other than "pending", saying that once the item reached their locatiom, they would have more information), he gave me more corporate-speak....aka BS.  I asked where the laptop was coming from and he said their corporate office and manufacturing location was Austin, Texas.  I said that wasn't my question and and asked if the laptop was made in and coming from China.  He said, "I can assure you it is not coming from China" and went on to say, once again, that he has expeditied the delivery.  Days later when I called Dell and spoke with yet another rep, he informed me the laptop was, in fact, coming from an 'overseas facility', the country of origin, he didn't name.  What I found out later was the country of origin is Malaysia.  So when the first liar....er... support rep assured me it was not coming from China, he already knew it was coming from Malaysia and not from inside the US. So technically, he didn't lie, but didn't tell the truth either.  As of this morning, FedEx still has nothing on their web site other than "label created".