During this morning’s conference call where Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer announced a new dividend and share repurchase program, Cook was asked about first weekend sales for the new iPad. The new iPad officially launched in 10 countries on March 16 to the usual long lines outside Apple retail stores. The company also quickly sold out of initial online preorders leading up to the launch. While Cook did not share any exact numbers or confirm whether we would get a press release, he did note: “We had a record [iPad] weekend, and we’re thrilled with it.” We know the iPad 2 was estimated to have sold somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million units during its début, so the new iPad is definitely off to a good start. Apple confirmed 300,000 iPad 1 units were sold within 24 hours of launch, but it never released official iPad 2 numbers. That number also included initial preorder purchases. The original iPad eventually went on to sell 1 million units within 28 days. You can listen to audio of the conference call here.
