Over the past several months there has been a lot of talk about Apple’s tablet computer. Early on, there was remote speculation that a tablet was even in the works. Speculators pored over patent reports and pieced together clues until they were able to estimate what the tablet would look like. Once Apple confirmed that indeed it was working on a tablet computer, people became ecstatic and wanted to know more. What would the tablet be called? How much would it cost? When would it be released? Would people buy it? Would it be 3G or wi-fi? Slowly but surely, all of these questions have been answered, and with the imminent release date, there is only one question that remains pending: Will the iPad be successful here in the United States?
While it is difficult to know with absolute certainty whether the iPad will revolutionize the way we use technology, there are some pretty good clues that the iPad will indeed be a success among consumers. In fact, there is some hard evidence indicating that U.S. sales of the iPad will skyrocket. In the March 16, 2010 online issue of Soft Sailor Technology News, an article reported that consumers have already pre-ordered more than 150,000 of Apple’s iPads.
Considering that pre-ordering has been available for less than a week, this number is quite impressive. And when the full facts are revealed, this number becomes even more impressive. The reported 150,000 pre-orders only include orders that were made online, and do not include any pre-orders that were made in stores. While most Apple consumers are savvy enough with technology to make their pre-order online, a significant number of in-store preorders have also been made. By the author’s estimation, in fact, there have been as many as 700 preorders in each and every Apple Store.
The next question, which can also be answered by looking at the preorder statistics, is which version of the iPad consumers will prefer. The Soft Sailor Technology News article sheds some light on this question by providing the break down of which iPad models have been preordered. So far, about half of the iPads preordered have been the 32 GB model. The remaining half of the preorders are split between the 64GB model and the 16GB model, with slightly more 64 GB models preordered than their smaller counterpart. And so far, Apple has been able to accommodate all of the preorders, so it appears that these orders coincide with Apple’s forecast.
The iPad is definitely taking a quick start, and the number of preorders makes the iPad quite successful right out of the gate. At this stage, it appears as if the iPad will have as much success, if not more, than even the iPhone or the iPod. The iPad is bringing just one more layer of success to the Apple dynasty
