The iPad was the hottest item of Black Friday, well maybe Apple’s hottest item of Black Friday. According to many Wall Street analysts, the iPad was literally flying off the shelves on Black Friday.
Analysts from the firm Piper Jaffray tracked Apple’s Black Friday sales and found that 8.8 iPads were being sold every hour. On the other had Macs were being sold at a rate of 8.2 units per hour, only slightly down from last years 8.3 units. 
The numbers are probably due to Apple’s special Black Friday sale that not only took place in Apple Stores, but online as well. Apple’s one day deal on the iPad definitely encouraged buyers who might of been on the fence. Apple knocked off $41 on the 16GB WiFi iPad. It went $499 to $458 on Friday. Apple also some had deals on their MacBook Pro, iMac, and iPod Touch on Black Friday.
A Nielson survey conducted back in October, showed that the iPad was the most desired gift by 6-12 year olds this holiday season. You might be thinking to yourself that those numbers only reflect young kids, but the survey also found that adults had very similar taste in tech gadgets. The top 5 most wanted tech gifts are: an iPad, a computer, an iPod Touch, a Nintendo DS, and Sony PlayStation 3.
I went to my local Apple Store Friday, and it was a zoo there. There was literally a line outside just to get into the store, let alone buy anything. The iPad was best selling item at that particular store. I was talking to the manager, he told me that some people were coming in and buying between 3-5 iPad at a time. So when I called ahead, that was the first thing they asked was “How iPads are you looking for?”
The Piper Jaffray report also modestly predicts that Apple is on par to sell about 5.5 million iPads this quarter, making it the “Mac for the masses.”
[via Tech Fortune]
