The UK Mobile Phone Blog

300,000 iPad units sold on US launch day!

After much anticipation, the iPad received an outstanding 300,000 sales on the day of launch in the U.S, however analysts had predicted sales of up to 500,000 units.

Since the official announcement by Steve Jobs back in January, pre-orders for the iPad exceeded the initial sales of Apple’s previous big hit, the iPhone. Apple themselves were pleased with initial sales, with Jobs stating “It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world – it’s going to be a game changer”.

Although Apple stores were rammed with eager punters in the first few hours after the device went on sale on Saturday, many queues had fizzled out by mid-afternoon. However on Monday, some Apple stores reported robust activity. An Apple store in San Francisco said it sold out of its first shipment of iPads on Monday morning, and a small line formed to buy the second shipment that had just arrived.

It is hard to say at this stage how well the iPad is likely to sell in the long term, as some of Apple’s previous big products saw relatively slow growth before they excelled. For example, the iPhone has sold more than 42.5 million units globally, with 270,000 units in the first 30 hours when it was launched 3 years ago; this was almost half of analyst expectations at the time.

With a successful performance in the US so far, sales for the iPad are likely to increase when it is launched globally, with the UK release date penciled in for later this month. Check back on the blog for more info.

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