Apple sells 500,000 iPads, runs out of stock
Big-demand debut, says analyst
Apple is estimated to have shifted half a million iPad 2s this weekend - almost all of them within 24 hours of the 'even more magical' gadget going on sale on Friday.
Last year, the Mac maker shifted 300,000 iPads in the first day of the tablet's availability.
This year's total comes from Apple watcher and Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. He told investor clients this weekend that calls put in to Apple, Target and Best Buy outlets revealed they had all sold out of the tweaked tablet, Bloomberg reports.
Apple is currently taking orders online in the US - but buyers won't get their iPad 2 for "3-4 weeks" now, whatever model they want.
Here in Blighty, Apple has yet to start taking orders for the iPad 2, which is due to go on sale in less than two weeks' time, on 25 March.
Last year, Apple was forced to delay the UK release because it needed all the iPads its contract manufacturers could punch out to meet demand in the US. ®
COMMENTS
Love it, or loathe it...
Those are pretty good numbers for a device that has (as many commentards regularly point out) no real purpose.
Gotta have one then
Being a PC + Penguin user by default, and having an iPod (Christmas gift actually) I don't know where I stand in terms of being informed by various commentar... errr correspondents on here whether or not I want one of these things. Sensing ownership of an iPad does seem to bring out the worst in some of you lot, really.
But you know what, I actually do quite fancy one, and all this name-calling on here tends to steer me closer towards one. The cost is nothing in reality, just some different numbers on an account balance somewhere that won't change my life this year or next all being well. I didn't know I fancied an iPod until I had one and that's a neat bit of kit. Safe to assume that the iPad will be too, so that sounds good enough reason to buy one at an opportune moment. When I do, I promise not to come on here and gloat about it. With any luck it'll quickly become just another toy - like the iPod - to hop on the net with, or play Paper Toss, or Sudoko, to get in touch with distant friends & family, or d/l some toons if I feel like it. Y'know, just like a trimmed down PC.
I really don't get the name-calling and hatred targeted at people who apparently 'just fancy' a neat toy. As far as I can tell it does what it does very well; of all the reviews of alt f/slabs that I've seen none seem to have that x-factor + range of toys that the IPad does, and there's no point buying second best just to save a few bob.
Where do I queue up for one then?
Useless?
If it's useless how did I use mine to read this article and reply to it? Isn't that a use?
What is useless is people moaning, whining and labelling massive sections of the world as morons etc just because they bought a gadget that either you don't want or can't afford. Either way really nobody gives a crap about what you think.
P45?
If I were in charge of a business, I'd fire the guy who *repeatedly* screwed up the manufacturing stockpile/ projections and caused so many "out of stock" moments. Every time an apple product comes out it's the same.
Of course, I'm not suggesting it's stage managed to run out ASAP, oh nooooo
How much free advertising? Wasted man years?
"almost all of them within 24 hours of the 'even more magical' gadget going on sale on Friday."
24 hours? I don't think so. There's been wall-to-wall media coverage and free advertising for months. Presumably they were taking pre-orders too. The 24 hour period was simply when they shipped.
And they do this everytime - "run out", so we get yet more non-stories giving them coverage.
Of course, now that the Ipad 2 is here, I guess the Register will be running stories of how many thousands of wasted man years went into Ipad 1 right (as with the Nokia story - apparently Symbian is all a waste, because in future there'll be newer Windows phones...) ?
"in fact, 49% were PC users "
That stat makes no sense - "Macs" are PCs these days. If you mean that 49% weren't Apple PC users, that still means that 51% were, suggesting most of the sales are coming from those who are already Apple users. This also ignores the 49% who may also be Ipod users. Perhaps there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm unclear what point the stat is trying to make (other than being yet-another-Apple-story).
I mean, how many Android phone users, once owned a Sony console? How many Windows netbook users have a Nokia phone? Are these all newsworthy stories too?
"If Android was as popular as iOS"
It's more popular.
