07 May 10

Apple iPad reaches 1m sales faster than iPhone

Apple has sold 1m iPads since launch – 3rd April – as the company passed that sales milestone faster than many analysts had expected.

Apple said the iPad reached the million sales mark in only 28 days. That was much faster than the iPhone, which passed 1m units sold after 74 days in 2007. Apple began the second stage of a two-part roll-out of the iPad today when it started selling the pricier, high-speed wireless model in the US, following the launch of the short-range Wi-Fi tablet earlier in April.

The company, which has already delayed the international iPad launch by a month, said it continues to have difficulty meeting demand. Users have so far downloaded 1.5m digital books and 12m apps (there are more than 5,000 iPad apps available). Many on Wall Street expect Apple to sell 5m iPads this year, although estimates vary due to the difficulty in forecasting for a tablet computer market that is brand new. The company sold 300,000 iPads on launch day and a half million in the first week. Apple delayed the international launch for a month because of what it said was stronger-than-expected U.S. demand. International pre-orders will begin on the 10th May, and Apple has confirmed that the iPad will in the UK on the 28th May.