Apple: 300,000 Wi-Fi-Only iPads Sold on First Day

Turns out, first-day sales of the iPad weren’t quite as “magical and revolutionary” as some thought. This morning, Apple said it sold over 300,000 iPads in the U.S. as of midnight Saturday, April 3–including pre-orders. That’s about half the sales Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimated in a Sunday research note, but, ironically, right on target with his earlier estimate.

Interestingly, the sales figure is also on par with the 270,000 first-gen iPhones Apple (AAPL) sold during that device’s first 30 hours at market in 2007.

It’s important to remember, though, that this first-day sales number is for Wi-Fi-only iPads sold in the U.S. The figure does not include sales of the 3G version of the device, which arrives at market in a few weeks. Nor does it include online pre-orders with an April 12 ship date. Makes you wonder if Apple is purposely lowballing here …

Apple Sells Over 300,000 iPads First Day

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 5 — Apple® today announced that it sold over 300,000 iPads in the US as of midnight Saturday, April 3. These sales included deliveries of pre-ordered iPads to customers, deliveries to channel partners and sales at Apple Retail Stores. Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.

“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world — it’s going to be a game changer,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad.”