Two million iPads in two months
Apple announced today that they have sold 2 million iPads during the first two months of availability, meaning that they have sold another million in the second month, almost all of which had to be in the U.S.
With foreign sales just beginning a few days ago, the announcement of 2 million sales in two months almost certainly meant that almost all of those sales have been domestic so far. There was a great deal of speculation that Apple could not keep up the million-a-month pace after the initial U.S. sales flurry was over, but that speculation can be put to rest. Once in a row is not a pattern, but two months in a row begins to be. Now, with sales starting in Britain, Australia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, it begins to look as if a million units per month may be just a base for the new tablet computer.
Clearly, Apple has had difficulty in keeping up with the demand. While talking about the sales numbers today, according to a CNET article, Steve Jobs said “We appreciate [customer] patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.” It has been rumored that production lines have been sped up to help meet the demand, but it is known that most of the pre-orders for Europe and Asia could not be delivered on the day that foreign shipments began. If demand in the U.S. continues at the million-per-month pace, and with overseas orders factored in, it is possible that the iPad could remain in short supply for some time to come.
During his announcement, Jobs also said that there were already over 5,000 apps specifically engineered for the iPad, plus the 200,000 iPhone apps that can also be run on the tablet. And all this despite the rumors that the content available for the iPad was not living up to its hype, with some content producers holding back instead of delivering in quantity. With more content coming on line and sales beginning outside the U.S., it may be that the sky is truly the limit for the iPad.
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