When it comes to product launches, analysts and marketing departments all love to spout sales numbers as a means to get a grip on the relative success of the launch. When it comes to Apple, those numbers are usually impressive. The iPhone, for example, sold 1 million iPhones in 74 days – it’s launch calendar quarter. That was impressive. How did the iPad launch compare? Well, according to rough estimates from Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, Apple may have pushed out something like 700,000 iPad units on launch day. Compared to the iPhone, those numbers, if accurate, are incredible.
700,000 is an impressive number, to be sure. But, it’s probably a good bet to take those numbers at face value. Apple hasn’t yet said anything about its launch day sales of the iPad, and only Mr. Steve Jobs and a few of the higher-ups at Apple have any clue as to how many tablets are now roaming the wild. Munster got his numbers by making calls to Apple stores and performing guesstimates based on available stock – 19 out of 20 of the Apple stores in Munster’s research declared iPads were sold out as of 7:30pm on launch day.
Still, if Apple sold even half a million iPads on Saturday, April 3, 2010, we’re going to call the launch a success. Are you an iPad early-adopter?
[Via: CNNMoney]