iPad sales nearly double launch day numbers

iPad sales have already cracked the 500,000 mark with less than a week on the market, an estimate by Chitika found today. Basing it on the amount of new iPads connecting to Chitika's ad network and accounting for the company's share of the market, it believes that over 530,000 of the Apple tablets have been sold as of Wednesday night. The prediction would have Apple almost doubling its 300,000 launch day units and passing that figure by the end of the week or sooner.

The data isn't a direct reflection of sales, as customers won't necessarily reach Chitika ads the same day they activate their iPads. However, it does show trends and so far indicates that Apple has a fairly consistent sell-through rate each day. Unsurprisingly, the device is also the most popular in California, where 19.5 percent of current owners live, followed by equally tech-friendly states New York and Texas, which each have about 8.1 percent.

If accurate, the calculation would be a symbolic win for Apple as it would see the iPad eclipse e-reader sales milestones far faster than any of its immediate competitors. Barnes & Noble is believed to have taken half a year to reach 500,000 Nooks sold, while the Amazon Kindle in the early e-reader market took all of 2008 to sell a similar amount.

Apple is helped by coming later and by making e-reading just one of many iPad features; only 38 percent plan to read books. Still, the sales rate if true could give it one of the largest addressable reader bases within months.

By Electronista Staff