The Apple iPad has topped the three million unit sales mark in the first 80 days of release, with no more questions as to whether or not Apple could market the device successfully.
The company sold one million in one month, two million through eight weeks, and the three million barrier was broken before the three-month limit was reached -- with sales expected to remain strong in 2010. Shaw Wu, Kaufman Bros analyst, predicts Apple will sell 9.7 million iPads for calendar year 2010. The predicted sales number varies throughout the industry, with others predicting as high as 12 million to be sold this year.
"We as well as the Street continue to underestimate demand for iPad," said Shaw Wu. "Part of the reason is that the iPad, as a tablet, is a relatively new product category where it fits in between a smart phone and a notebook PC."
"People are loving iPad as it becomes part of their everyday lives," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "We're working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more people around the world," Jobs also promised in the statement.
The iPad is currently available in the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Italy and Germany, with nine new country launches over the next month.
Prior to the iPad's release, it was unknown how popular the tablet device would be. Apple even admitted it would remain nimble on pricing, though it now looks like consumers are just fine forking over dough at the current iPad prices. Analysts believe tablet sales will overtake netbook sales by 2012, and the iPad is expected to continue to be a tablet market leader.
Apple already has strong control on the MP3 player market with the iPod, but is looking to expand further into consumer electronics. The company's MacBook and similar Mac-based products are popular, but still have a difficult time trying to compete with rival PC and notebooks that have much lower price-tags.
