Everything iPad

Apple have announced sales figures for the iPad’s first day of availability, and as you might expect they’re glowing.  Pre-orders, Apple Store sales and iPads sold through Apple’s channel partners amounted to over 300,000 units in the period from 9am EST to midnight on Saturday April 3rd.

As well as strong hardware sales, App Store use saw a significant boost too.  iPad owners downloaded over 1,000,000 titles from the App Store for their new tablet; that figure might have been higher, too, had Apple not allowed would-be owners to start picking up apps in the few days ahead of the iPad’s physical debut.

Meanwhile, iBooks sales also started with a bang, with Apple reporting that over 250,000 ebooks from the iBookstore were downloaded on day one.  ”iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad” Apple CEO Steve Jobs is reported as saying, going on to describe the iPad as “a game changer.”