Apple sells three million iPads in 3 days

Apple Monday announced it has sold three million iPads in just three days since the launch of its new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad. The number is double the previous first weekend milestone of 1.5 million Wi-Fi only models sold for the third generation iPad in March.

"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."

Apple also confirmed that demand for iPad mini exceeded the initial supply and that while many of the pre-orders have been shipped to customers, some are scheduled to be shipped later this month.

Apple introduced the iPad mini and the fourth generation iPad at a special event in San Jose, California on October 23rd (Pictures). The iPad mini features a 7.9-inch display, FaceTime HD and iSight cameras, ultrafast wireless performance and 10 hours of battery life. The new fourth generation iPad features a 9.7-inch Retina display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance with same 10 hours of battery life.

Both iPad mini and the new fourth generation iPad with Retina display are available in 34 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the UK, and will be available in many more countries later this year, including mainland China.

iPad mini with Wi-Fi comes in either white & silver or black & slate, and is available in the US for $329 (US) for the 16GB model, $429 (US) for the 32GB model and $529 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad mini with Wi-Fi + Cellular will become available later this month for $459 (US) for the 16GB model, $559 (US) for the 32GB model and $659 (US) for the 64GB model. 

Fourth generation iPad with Wi-Fi models are available in black or white for $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. Fourth generation iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular will become available later this month for $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model.