300 000 iPads sold on first day
2010-04-05 23:05
Washington - Apple sold more than 300 000 iPads on the first day of availability of the device in the United States on Saturday, the company said on Monday.
Apple said the sales figures included pre-ordered shipments of the table computer and purchases at Apple retail stores around the country.
California-based Apple also said that iPad users had downloaded more than one million applications at Apple's App Store and over 250 000 electronic books from Apple's iBookstore during the first day.
"It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world - it's going to be a game changer," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement.
"iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad," Jobs said.
Analysts had predicted that Apple would sell 300 000 to 400 000 iPads by the end of the weekend.
The iPad allows users to watch video, listen to music, play games, surf the Web or read electronic books. It runs most of the 150 000 applications made for the iPod Touch and the iPhone.
The model that went on sale Saturday features Wi-Fi wireless connectivity, while a model offering both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular connectivity will be released in late April.
The 16-gigabyte Wi-Fi version costs $499 while the 64GB Wi-Fi model costs $699.
About the size of a letter-sized sheet of paper, the iPad is 1.3cm thick and weighs 0.7kg. It has a colour 24.6cm LED display touchscreen.