Apple said the iPad essentially a cross between a laptop and a smartphone that sports a 9.7-inch touchscreen – reached the million sales milestone faster than the iPhone did, which passed one million units sold after 74 days. Apple sold 300,000 iPads on launch day, April 3, and half a million in the first week. Users of the iPad, which is intended as a media consumption device good for video, games, electronic books and magazines, and web browsing have also downloaded 1.5 million digital books, Apple said in a statement.
The company began the second stage of a two-part roll-out of the device on Friday when it started sales on the pricier, high-speed wireless version of the iPad in the United States, following the successful launch of the short-range Wi-Fi tablet. Although the device won’t reach the international markets until late May, some analysts expected Apple to sell five million iPads this year. The company delayed the international launch for a month because of what it said was stronger-than-expected US demand.
“In many respects, we are encouraged that the international roll-out will not begin until May, which will sustain strong sales in the September quarter and throughout 2010,” BMO Capital markets analyst Keith Bachman wrote in a client note. Prices for the cellular 3G iPad start at $629, which secures buyers a fairly modest 16GBs of data storage to compliment the advantages of high-speed connectivity. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, several Apple Stores located throughout the US had sold their stock allocations by Sunday.