>Apple May Have Sold 500,000 IPad 2 Tablets on Debut Weekend, Analyst Says

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Apple Inc. may have sold as many as 500,000 iPad 2 computers after retail outlets ran out of the tablet-style device on its debut weekend, said Piper Jaffray Cos. analyst Gene Munster.
Stores run by Apple, Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. contacted by Munster’s team had sold out of the device, he said in a research note yesterday. Online orders via Apple’s website are taking up to a month for delivery, up from less than a week when sales began.
Early estimates suggest demand for iPads remains buoyant even as competitors such as Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. enter the tablet market. Apple sold more than 300,000 units of the first iPad in the 24 hours after its April debut.
“IPads are sold out across virtually all channels,” Munster said in the research note. “We were unable to find any availability.”
Munster said Apple will probably surpass his early prediction that 5.5 million iPads would be sold this quarter, which ends this month. Munster, based in Minneapolis, said that 70 percent of the customers surveyed by his team were first-time iPad buyers, signaling Apple is expanding its user base.
Apple may have sold three times as many iPad 2s in the debut as the first iPad, according to Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research. All of the handful of Best Buy stores surveyed by Global Equities sold out of the iPad in four minutes, Chowdhry wrote.
Thinner, Lighter Model
The new model, which comes in white and black, is lighter, thinner, includes a more powerful processor and has front and rear cameras. It ranges in price from $499 for a base model to $829 for the top-of-the-line version.
Materials used in the iPad 2 cost about $326.60, according to research firm IHS ISuppli, which based its analysis on a version that has 32 gigabytes of memory and works with the mobile phone standard know as global system for mobile communications. That’s up from $320 for the earlier model.
Apple expanded the number of retail outlets where the device was available, including 236 retails stores in the U.S. and thousands of AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Best Buy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Target stores.
“Demand for the next-generation iPad has been amazing and we are working hard to get iPad 2 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible,” said Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple. The company has not issued a first-weekend sales figure for the iPad 2.
Apple similarly didn’t have enough of the iPhone 4 in the days after its June introduction.
102 Tablets In Works
Through December, Apple had sold 14.8 million iPads, generating $9.6 billion in sales, making it one of the fastest- selling consumer-electronic devices in history.
Rivals including Motorola Mobility, Samsung Electronics Co., Research In Motion Ltd. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are introducing tablet computers to compete with the iPad. Overall, there are 102 tablets from 64 makers either on sale or in development, according to consulting firm PRTM.
On March 11, hundreds of people lined up at the Fifth Avenue store in New York. Store workers handed out free hot chocolate and water to those waiting.
“I’m a student, and I hate carrying my laptop to school. It’s like five pounds and the iPad is a lot lighter,” said Jay Narang, 19, a sophomore at Baruch College. “I was going to get the first one, but I knew they were going to come out with one with cameras, so why not just wait?”
Francis Degode, 44, lives outside of Brussels and said he came to New York for the release because it would take too long to get one at home. Degode got in line at 6 a.m. in the rain on March 11 to get his first iPad.
“The iPad 2 is faster, and there are two cameras. It’s very useful,” Degode said. “It’s the gadget of the year.”

>Why You Should Not Buy An iPad 2: iOS(Gallery Foto)

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Like many tech enthusiasts, I followed last week’s Apple event closely. Steve Jobs unexpectedly took the stage, but the company announced an expected product: the iPad 2. Although not nearly as revolutionary as the original, the second generation model brings refined hardware improvements. Extras such as cameras are also a great addition, however there is one major flaw: iOS.
Do Hardware Specs Matter?
This questions comes up quite often and the answer is not simple. Apple’s original iPad was a game changer since there was nothing else like it on the market. Tablet PCs had been around for ages, but they still ran a desktop operating system. While I adore Windows 7 and use it primarily for all my work, it is far from being ideal for tablets. With the introduction of iOS, hardware specs for tablets became more along the lines of a smart phone rather than a laptop computer.
Although 2010 was definitely the year of the iPad, 2011 has an entirely new landscape. Competition such as the BlackBerry PlayBook, HP TouchPad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10, and LG G-Slate each offer a very similar set of features. There are some benefits and drawbacks to each which we highlighted in our series of infographics, but the specifications are roughly the same. They are so close in some regards that it truly does not make a difference to consumers.
Software Matters Too

While hardware specifications were all the rage for ages, easy to use and intuitive software has pushed for consumer friendly devices. Apple made a great decision when they chose to run iOS on the iPad instead of Mac OS X last year. The interface was efficient, familiar, and simple. The iPhone was already a hit and the iPad was a perfectly complement to the family.
Although I do not own an iPad, I spent some time using and reviewing it last year. There were many missing features at the time, however iOS ran incredibly smoothly. Fast forward a year later, not much has changed aside from the addition of multitasking. The new iPad 2 makes things faster with a dual-core processor, but the operating system is nearly identical.
This creates a major issue for Apple as we head into the flooded market of tablets in 2011. The current iOS for the iPad is essentially an enlarged version of the operating system for the iPhone and iPod touch. The platform was a great start, but the original design does not take advantage of the tablet form factor. Although I was hoping for a new refreshing interface, Apple did not announce a major software revamp for the iPad 2 aside from a few minor enhancements.
The Competition Has Caught Up

There are many amazing iPad apps that take advantage of 9.7 inch screen, but the operating system does not go far enough. Google, HP, and RIM have started from the ground up with new tablet operating systems that take the slate form factor into consideration from the OS level. BlackBerry Tablet OS, webOS 3, and Android 3.0 Honeycomb each offer many user interface improvements which are more innovative and intuitive than iOS.
For instance, HP’s latest webOS 3 lets users stack sets of applications together for organized multitasking. Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb has an impressive notifications panel for keeping up to date with the latest information without letting pop ups disrupt work flow. It is not just about multitasking and notifications either, these new breed of tablets offer creative home screens with widgets and improved navigation for getting things done fast.
It’s Also About The Apps

In addition to beyond impressive sales, Apple’s App Store count is far ahead of competition. Steve Jobs proudly noted that there are over 65,000 iPad optimized apps while less than 100 are available Android tablets. It is also important not to forget that the quality of apps also matter. Apple’s out of the box apps are amazing and many third-party apps are even better.
However, you will probably change your mind once you try Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The default bundled apps truly highlight the true potential for Google’s new operating system. Everything from the Browser, Calendar, Chat, Contacts, Email, Maps, and Music apps are incredibly innovative. They look gorgeous, have more features, and actually very easy to use. This is a small indicator of the likely nature of upcoming third-party Android tablet apps.
Keep in mind that the Motorola Xoom is the only Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet on the market so far and it is than a month old. Apple iOS for the iPad is about a year a more mature than all the others. Competitors, including Google, are still far behind Apple when it comes to tablet sales, but they are move up the ladder faster with better technology.
To Buy Or Not To Buy
If you are ready for a tablet, you may want to think a moment before dropping cash for the iPad 2. It is a great product, but it is only a slight advancement to the previous iteration. Apple has yet to announce or make any mention of iOS 5. It is unclear what the next generation operating system will offer or if every feature would even carry over to the iPad 2. Other tablets already have a head start with features such as 4G connectivity, integrated mobile hotspots, flash player, video chat over a cellular network, and expandable storage. While the iPad 2 will by no means disappoint if you know what you are getting, consider the available options if you are open to unique alternatives.

>RIM CMO Out on Eve of Playbook Tablet Launch

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RIM might be close to making its tablet debut with its upcoming Playbook, but there’s one thing that won’t be accompanying this device to the market: an ongoing chief marketing officer.

According to a Friday report by the Wall Street Journal, RIM’s chief marketing officer Keith Pardy is leaving the company following a six-month transition period. 

According to a statement by RIM, “personal reasons” are behind the departure, but there’s been no elaboration—official or otherwise—as to what those could be. Pardy allegedly made the decision to depart a month ago.

RIM poached Pardy from Nokia in late 2009. The departure now leaves RIM without an executive on top mere weeks before the company is expected to launch its flagship Playbook table—either in late March or early April, depending on which batch of rumors you subscribe to. However, according to IHS iSuppli analyst Rhoda Alexander, the executive departure isn’t likely to affect the Playbook’s launch.

“Hopefully, when you’re weeks away from product release, you’ve laid most of the groundwork for the marketing efforts,” said Alexander in an interview with Reuters. “Others can execute the groundwork that’s been laid out.”

Although RIM still enjoys considerable success amongst U.S. smartphone owners—it’s currently tied with Apple for a 27 percent market share, says The Neilsen Company–jumping into the Apple-focused tablet market is another battle entirely. According to the latest figures from Strategy Analytics, Apple cruised to a 95.5-percent tablet market share in the third quarter of 2010 before dropping to 75.3 percent in the fourth quarter. Over all of 2010, however, Apple commanded 84.1 percent of the tablet market, with Android-based devices barely making a dent at 13.1 percent.

A total of 9.7 million tablet devices sold globally made up the aforementioned fourth-quarter statistics. That’s an important number, because Digitimes has reported that RIM allegedly expects to sell one million playbooks in the first quarter of 2011. Pretending, for a moment, that those sales occurred in the fourth quarter of 2010, one million Playbooks sold would have put the RIM at a market share of 9.35 percent.

But remember, by the time the RIM Playbook’s launch rolls around, it will be staring down the barrel of two of the market’s fiercest competitors: Apple’s iPad 2, and what’s been heralded as the first true Android-based competitor to the iPad, Motorola’s Xoom. With these two heavyweights duking it out, one million units sold for RIM’s Playbook could be a difficult target to hit—and might not give RIM even ten percent market share in the aftermath.