Apple Says It Sold Three Million IPads in 80 Days
Apple rose $3.68, or 1.4 percent, to $273.85 in New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 30 percent this year. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Apple Inc. said it sold 3 million iPads in the 80 days since the device went on the sale in the U.S., adding to evidence Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is building demand for tablet-style computers.
Software developers have created more than 11,000 applications for the iPad since its April 3 debut, Cupertino, California-based Apple also said today in a statement.
The iPad has emerged as the first tablet computer with mainstream appeal, carving out a new product category between smartphones and notebook computers. Today’s results led many analysts to increase their sales targets for the iPad, signaling that Apple is succeeding where predecessors such as Microsoft Corp. faltered.
“That’s a huge number -- it’s amazing,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers LP in San Francisco, who raised his 2010 sales estimate 21 percent to 9.7 million units. “People continuously underestimate how well this product is selling.”
Apple rose $3.68, or 1.4 percent, to $273.85 in New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 30 percent this year.
Wu advises buying Apple shares and doesn’t own any himself.
The iPad lets users read digital books, surf the Web, watch videos and play games. In April, the company delayed its international debut by a month after shipping more than 500,000 domestically in a week.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has tried for more than a decade to build a market for tablet computers.
Sales Projections
Abhey Lamba, an analyst with ISI Group in New York, raised his iPad sales estimate today by 27 percent. He expects Apple to sell 6.6 million units this fiscal year ending in September, up from a previous prediction of 5.2 million. The iPod took 2 1/2 years to sell 3 million units while the iPhone took three quarters, Lamba said in an e-mail.
Maynard Um, an analyst at UBS AG in New York, boosted his fiscal 2010 projection by 42 percent to 6.8 million units.
For the calendar year, Standard & Poor’s analyst Clyde Montevirgen in New York increased his estimate to 9 million iPads, up 13 percent.
The rate of sales is also increasing, according to Colin Gillis, senior analyst with BGC Partners LP in New York. Apple sold 45,500 iPads a day from May 31 to June 21, up from 33,000 a day in the period when the second million were sold, he said. The sales are exceeding his expectations, he said.
App Appeal
“The appeal of the App Store has really led to greater- than-expected sales,” said William Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis who recommends buying the shares. “Apple’s ecosystem continues to grow with each day.”
The tablet adds a new product line to Apple, which also makes Macintosh computers, iPod music players and iPhones.
The company is due to release the next iteration of its iPhone on June 24. Apple had more than 600,000 preorders for the iPhone 4, overloading the company’s computer system and leading carrier AT&T Inc. to suspend sales before this week’s debut.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net
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