Apple iPad: One year on

A year ago yesterday, the iPad was first unleashed onto the American public.

There was queues aplenty, as expected, although Apple didn’t sell out over last year’s Easter weekend, as it did with the recent iPad 2 launch.

During its opening weekend, the original iPad shifted 300,000 units. The tablet gathered pace from there, and went on to sell some 15 million last year.

Apple is expecting to shift far more of the iPad sequel this year, too. The refreshed device, which comes with a faster processor, slimmer profile and twin cameras, still hasn’t had official sales figures released for its launch weekend.

Analysts, however, reckon that it could have shifted double what the original managed in the States, with a tally of 600,000 or potentially more according to some estimates.

Mike Abramsky, MD of RBC Capital Markets, has predicted sales of 30 million iPad 2s over the course of 2011, which would again double up on the original tablet’s achievement.

Whether that will pan out is still unclear, even though the iPad 2 appears to be pretty much a global sell out thus far.

How much of that is down to Apple being unable to get enough tablets out there is a question which needs to be answered – and with component shortages in the pipeline due to the Japanese earthquake, supplies could be further constrained over the next few months.

There are also a wave of Android tablets incoming, some of which are finally being priced to undercut Apple’s magical device. The original Samsung Galaxy Tab is now at £300, as is the Acer Iconia Tab A100 which launches later this month.

Although admittedly, both these are 7 inch models, which Steve Jobs famously remarked had no chance of challenging the 10 inch real estate of the iPad.