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Fans gobble up new iPad
Sales of the third-generation iPad appeared to get off to a strong start Friday, as fans lined up in San Francisco and around the world to be among the first to touch Apple's best-selling tablet.
About 300 people lined up overnight at the Apple Store on Stockton Street in San Francisco, stretching halfway down Ellis Street in the moments before it opened. A larger crowd was on hand prior to the release of last year's model - but this year, consumers were able to preorder iPads online and skip the lines.
Demand for the new iPad is expected to be strong. Preorders sold out, and online orders are backed up for two to three weeks.
In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted Apple would sell 1 million iPads on Friday alone. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity estimate that Apple will sell 65.6 million iPads this year, Reuters reported, raising their target from 55.9 million after seeing what they described as record preorders for the device.
By the time Scott Miner went to preorder his new iPad last week, they were already sold out. That led the Castro Valley resident to get in line at the Apple Store on Stockton at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, making him the first in line.
Things were going well until about 3 a.m., he said, when it started to rain. But he and a few hundred others braved the downpour, and at 8 a.m. the store's doors opened to wild cheers and applause from dozens of Apple employees waiting inside.
Miner said he wanted the next-generation tablet primarily for its speed, which far outstrips the first-generation model he purchased the day it came out in 2010. (He bought another one last year, he said, but it belongs to his wife.)
"I'm an instructor, and a use it a lot for school," said Miner, who teaches welding technology at Las Positas College in Livermore. "It's going to be a lot faster than the first-generation one."
The new tablet, called simply iPad, boasts a faster processor and a display with four times as many pixels as its predecessor. It can also access fourth-generation cellular networks from AT&T and Verizon, which can offer faster data speeds than some home broadband networks. The tablet is also about a tenth of a pound heavier and 0.6 millimeters thicker than its predecessor. Prices for the device start at $499 in the United States.
Reviewers have praised its speed, battery life and display, which several have called the best ever seen in a mobile device.
J. Adam Moore, a software developer, was among those who braved the lines to purchase a new tablet. He said it would replace his first-generation iPad, which is monopolized by his young son, Caleb.
"I bought it for development, and now my 2-year-old's taken it and I can't get it back from him," Moore said. "And now it's loaded up with 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and 'Toy Story.' I have to buy an iPad or I can't work."
iPad Video Converter
About 300 people lined up overnight at the Apple Store on Stockton Street in San Francisco, stretching halfway down Ellis Street in the moments before it opened. A larger crowd was on hand prior to the release of last year's model - but this year, consumers were able to preorder iPads online and skip the lines.
Demand for the new iPad is expected to be strong. Preorders sold out, and online orders are backed up for two to three weeks.
In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted Apple would sell 1 million iPads on Friday alone. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity estimate that Apple will sell 65.6 million iPads this year, Reuters reported, raising their target from 55.9 million after seeing what they described as record preorders for the device.
By the time Scott Miner went to preorder his new iPad last week, they were already sold out. That led the Castro Valley resident to get in line at the Apple Store on Stockton at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, making him the first in line.
Things were going well until about 3 a.m., he said, when it started to rain. But he and a few hundred others braved the downpour, and at 8 a.m. the store's doors opened to wild cheers and applause from dozens of Apple employees waiting inside.
Miner said he wanted the next-generation tablet primarily for its speed, which far outstrips the first-generation model he purchased the day it came out in 2010. (He bought another one last year, he said, but it belongs to his wife.)
"I'm an instructor, and a use it a lot for school," said Miner, who teaches welding technology at Las Positas College in Livermore. "It's going to be a lot faster than the first-generation one."
The new tablet, called simply iPad, boasts a faster processor and a display with four times as many pixels as its predecessor. It can also access fourth-generation cellular networks from AT&T and Verizon, which can offer faster data speeds than some home broadband networks. The tablet is also about a tenth of a pound heavier and 0.6 millimeters thicker than its predecessor. Prices for the device start at $499 in the United States.
Reviewers have praised its speed, battery life and display, which several have called the best ever seen in a mobile device.
J. Adam Moore, a software developer, was among those who braved the lines to purchase a new tablet. He said it would replace his first-generation iPad, which is monopolized by his young son, Caleb.
"I bought it for development, and now my 2-year-old's taken it and I can't get it back from him," Moore said. "And now it's loaded up with 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and 'Toy Story.' I have to buy an iPad or I can't work."
iPad Video Converter
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