iPad Hype High as Weekend Pre-Orders Top 150,000

Say what you will about the iPad's unique (or, according to some critics, 'questionable') design, the upcoming Apple device is already being well received by consumers. In its first weekend of pre-order availability, the iPad sold over 150,000 times, at one point moving at a rate of 25,000 per hour.

Apple's iPad became available for pre-order last Friday. During that first full day of availability, sales peaked at an incredible 25,000 units per hour, before cooling off to about 1,000 an hour on Sunday evening. Cumulatively, sales for the three-day period reached 152,000 units.

iPad Early Success Credited to Fan Base

Analysts believe the early adoption rate is due to Apple's enormous fan base. In an interview with Fortune magazine's Philip Elmer-DeWitt, industry insider Daniel Tello attributed the fast sales to "pure overexcited fanboism." (Source: macobserver.com)

It would seem Tello believes pre-orders will continue to decline steadily in the lead-up to the iPaid's release in April.

"With three weeks and two weekends left before they ship, I wouldn't expect much more than half a million in pre-orders and reservations," Tello said. "My best guess, although very tentative given the early stage and few data we have so far, would be that they hit the 1 million unit milestone by the second week after it ships."

Thus far, the preference has been for iPads with WiFi as opposed to the WiFi and 3G-enabled version. However, there has been no real winner in the data memory department, with sales for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions fairly evenly split. Reports at the end of the weekend suggest just a slight edge, at 35 per cent, for the largest-capacity model.

Oscar Marketing Helps Pre-order iPad Sales

Helping the iPad's early success has been Apple's unsurprisingly strong marketing campaign, starting with a 30-second spot during last weekend's Academy Awards ceremony. The spot demonstrated how the device could be used as an e-reader, day planner, web surfing tool, and email platform. As such, Apple nicely showed millions of viewers how its new product would act as an all-in-one device crossing several unique markets. (Source: eweek.com)

Accompanying news of the iPad's pre-order sales is word from Apple on what consumers can expect to pay for a burnt-out battery: approximately $100. Apple says that those iPads with a "diminished ability to hold an electrical charge" will receive new units for $99 plus $6.95 shipping. Not a bad deal. (Source: google.com)

The Apple iPad WiFi-enabled model is slated for release on April 3.