iPad Eclipses iPhone Launch

This chart shows cumulative global unit shipments in the first 10 quarters after the launches of Apple's mobile gadgets: the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.

When Apple introduced the original iPad in January 2010, many analysts were sceptical whether the new device could replicate the iPhone’s success in establishing a new product category.

Two and a half years and 100 million shipped iPads later, the answer has to be: yes!

Not only has the iPad redefined (or reignited) the tablet market, it even eclipsed the iPhone in terms of launch sales. In the first ten quarters after the iPad’s launch in April 2010, Apple shipped 98.16 million units of its popular tablet. During the same period after the iPhone’s launch in 2007, Apple shipped 33.75 million units of its popular smartphone. I.e. the iPad outsold the iPhone 3 to 1 in its first two and a half years on the market, making it one of the fastest consumer electronics launches ever.

The recently launched iPad Mini could give iPad sales another boost, as the entry price to Apple’s tablet products dropped from $399 to $329.