Business

Apple sells 300,000 iPads on first day

Pat McMahon Contributor
Font Size:

Apple Inc. said it sold more than 300,000 iPads in the U.S. on the first day the device went on sale Saturday, tempering Wall Street’s highflying expectations for the much-hyped multimedia tablet computer.

While Apple didn’t provide any iPad forecasts, expectations had been building steadily for blowout sales since Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the product in late January. Last month, people familiar with the matter said Apple was seeing strong preorders of the iPad that even exceeded initial sales of the company’s previous big hit, the iPhone.

Are sales of Apple’s iPad living up to expectations? Barron’s Eric Savitz tells the Digits panel the tablet computer debuted with more than 300,000 sales, which he says didn’t quite meet estimates, but is still a “pretty good launch for the device.”

Analysts on average had expected first-day iPad sales of 400,000 to 500,000 units. Some analysts, such as Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, had even higher sales projections of 600,000 to 700,000 units. Estimates for global iPad sales this year ranged from 2.5 million by financial-services firm Kaufman Bros. to as high as 7.1 million by research firm iSuppli Corp.

Full story: Apple Sells 300,000 iPads on First Day – WSJ.com