Buy iPad

As expected, Friday’s launch of the Apple iPad drew crowds of eager punters to the various Apple Stores and Apple resellers around the nation offering the iPad for sale on its official ‘everywhere else’ release date.

By far the most popular across the country were the 3G enabled models, with many retailers selling out of this version by Monday morning. The non-3G WiFi only version was soon to follow.

Dick Smith’s Innaloo store in Perth sold out of all variations of the device. David Jones, JB Hi-Fi and specialist Apple retailers also need to wait for new stock.

Once the initial rush and hype of the launch settle down, retailers expect sales to get back to normal levels. Most are expecting new stock this week, although Apple does not usually confirm when new stock will be available.

Based on sales in the US, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Apple sold 300,000 iPads on the first day in the US, and experts predict sales could top 6 million by the end of the year.

The hype surrounding the latest Apple release has been building for months. The Apple faithful have been following news of the iPad ever since its announcement in January, fueling the anticipation.

After the revolutionary iPhone was released in 2007 there has been an even more intense aura about upcoming Apple product launches. The iPhone and its advanced touch screen user interface were so far ahead of competing devices that it immediately became the next must-have gadget. As a result, Apple product launch hype has now gone mainstream, with new Apple products such as the iPad becoming household names as soon as they are announced.