Apple shifts 300,000 iPads, analysts predict success

Apple has revealed that it sold 300,000 iPads by midnight on Saturday, the first day the tablet device hit stores in the US.

Apple said the sales included pre-ordered iPads, as well as retail and channel sales. The 3G version has yet to arrive, and both versions will go on sale in the UK and elsewhere around the world next month.

Apple also said that 250,000 e-books were downloaded from the iBookstore on Saturday, as well as more than a million apps.

Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, said: "iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad."

Analysts called the launch a success, but said the next batch of sales would be harder.

"The launch went pretty much as expected; it was well received," said Shannon Cross of Cross Research. "There is widespread enthusiasm for the product, but it's a new category, and it will take time for people to understand it."

BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman called the first-day sales figure "reasonable, but not a blowout number."

He said the iPhone sold at a similar pace to the iPad in the early going. iPhone sales passed the one million mark after 74 days in 2007.

"I don't think investors should expect this to be an overnight sensation," said Oppenheimer & Co analyst Yair Reiner.

"Apple sold to the first 300,000 buyers, they were the easy ones," he said. "The next 10 million will be a lot tougher. For a lot of those incremental buyers, the use case has yet to be made."

Analysts expect the company to sell one million or more iPads in the current quarter ending in June. Wall Street expects the company to sell around five million in 2010, although estimates vary widely.

Read on for our review of the Apple iPad.