06 April 2010 | Author: J. Morton News Editor

iPad sales defy naysayers and meet expectations

The weekend has shown that sales of the Apple iPad - the Cupertino, Calfornia-companies latest industry-wowing gadget - have lived up to analysts' predictions, despite suggestions that some consumers may be waiting for beefed up versions.

The latest, and certainly most-anticipated, entrant into the tablet computer realm was released last week, and Apple reported Monday that it sold in excess of 300,000 units in its first day of availability. This figure included preorders of the device.

While the sales numbers met speculators' expectations, some believe the general public is generally hesitant to pick up the tablet computer presently.

Speaking to the New York Times, Michael Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital, explained he thought Apple was in a tricky position of marketing a device that's a composite of two of its pre-existing offerings: The laptop and iPhone.

"This device is the leading edge in a market that is still being created, so lots of folks are still trying to figure out the relevance of the iPad to them," Abramsky told the newspaper. "But given that not everyone understands what it does yet, it's a pretty good launch at the end of the day."

Additionally, with Apple Inc planning to release a 3G version of the tablet later in the month of April, some potential customers will be holding out for extra connectivity. A proposed, built-in camera for the device has also been mentioned as a hotly anticipated feature.

Regardless, Apple banked over a million transactions from its App Store and 250,000 from its iBookstore in addition to hardware sales on the iPad release date.

Abramsky was assured the market for applications would continue to expand over time.
"We're seeing just the scratching of the surface," he told the New York Times. "We have the medium first and then the media."

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