Apple announced that it has already sold over a million iPads. The millionth device was sold on Friday, which was the day the 3G version was launched, and only 28 days after the first ones were introduced on April 3.
In addition to the million plus devices sold, users have also downloaded over 12 million apps from the App Store and over 1.5 million eBooks.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement: "One million iPads in 28 days–that’s less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with the iPhone. Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers."
Clearly the success of the iPhone played a huge role in the demand for the iPad. Competition for the device is just around the corner though, and it will be interesting to see how the demand keeps up as devices from others penetrate the market.
Google, which is widely being considered among Apples’ chief competitors at this point, is making move after move to position itself as a prime rival. Some of the acquisitions from the company that are likely to contribute to this include: Agnilux, LabPixies, Plink, and most recently 3D desktop maker BumpTop. Apple is making its own acquisitions as well. A couple recent ones include: Siri and Intrinsity.
Apple of course launched its iAds product recently, based on its acquisition of Quattro Wireless, after losing out to Google on AdMob. Google’s AdMob acquisition is not looking good however, as reports suggest the FTC may reject it.
Apple’s announcement says that developers have created over 5,000 new apps for the iPad, which take advantage of the device’s multi-touch user interface, large screen, and graphics, though the device will of course run other App Store apps.
