Apple's game-friendly iPad 2, the follow-up to last year's groundbreaking touch-screen tablet, sold nearly 1 million units during its launch weekend in the U.S., according to media reports.
The new hardware went on sale last Friday, and is available to purchase from Apple Stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless outlets, and a number of select high-street stores.
Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said that the new iPad was "sold out at every Apple and non-Apple store we contacted", reports Reuters.
"All the stores had worked through iPad 2 inventory by Saturday afternoon, and there were no new iPad 2 deliveries on Sunday," he continued.
Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland noted, "We would not be surprised to see Apple sell closer to 1 million iPad 2's in the opening weekend."
The original iPad managed this feat 28 days after its March 2010 launch.
The iPad 2 has a new design that is 33 percent thinner than the original iPad and around 15 percent lighter, according to Apple.
The device also has a 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen, dual-core A5 processor, a front- and rear-facing camera, accelerometers and up to 10 hours of battery life. It also adds HDMI video output of up to 1080p resolution, allowing games and apps to be displayed on a big screen.
Earlier in the month, Apple revealed that the original iPad shifted around 15 million units between April and December 2010, which the company says is more than any tablet PC ever sold. The iPad 2 is due for launch in 26 other countries on March 25.
The 16GB wi-fi iPad 2 sells for $499, the 32GB model sells for $599 and the 64GB for $699. The iPad 2 with wi-fi and 3G sells for $629, $729 and $829, respectively.
