Apple's iPad mini is a huge hit
San Francisco - Less is more for Apple. The company's diminutive iPad mini yielded the biggest ever debut sales for a tablet computer, selling more than 3 million new units on its first weekend in stores, Apple said Monday.
The sales figure is double the 1.5 million units that Apple said it sold when the third generation iPad went on sale in March. But there's a catch. Apple's latest sales figures included the newly releases iPad 4, which went on sale at the same time as the Mini, but had not stoked any of the enthusiasm usually seen for new Apple products.
The launch encompassed 34 countries, including the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain. According to analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets, the Mini model sold out at 60 per cent of US Apple stores.
"Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We're working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand." The mini-tablet is a direct competitor to rivals from Amazon, Google and Samsung which had managed to rack up impressive sales for their 7-inch touchscreen computers, which are smaller lighter and less expensive than Apple's regular 9.7-inch iPad.//DPA
