May 28, 2010: Customers across Europe and Asia queue up to buy the iPad when the international launch date for Apple’s original tablet finally arrives.
The reason for the gap between the iPad’s U.S. launch in early April and its international debut more than a month later? Unexpectedly strong demand for the groundbreaking device.
Original iPad goes on sale internationally
Apple sold a massive 1 million iPads in the tablet’s first month on sale, and struggled to meet the overwhelming demand. In the end, Apple had no choice but to divert some of the iPads it had earmarked for the European launch to stores in the United States. As a result, Cupertino pushed back the iPad’s international launch.
A Reuters story illustrated the feverish international excitement about the iPad launch by quoting an eager 19-year-old customer who camped out for days in front of Apple’s Tokyo store to snag the first spot in the line.
“I wanted to touch it as soon as possible,” Takechiyo Yamanaka told Reuters. “I felt real excitement when it was finally in my hands.”
The original iPad measured 0.5 inches thick and weighed 1.5 pounds. It boasted a 9.7-inch multitouch display and a 1GHz Apple A4 chip. Storage options ranged from 16GB to 64GB of flash memory. It did not come with a camera.
Still, there was something magical about the iPad.
“Using this thing is remarkable,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs during the first public demo of the iPad earlier in the year. “It’s so much more intimate than a laptop, and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone with this gorgeous, large display.”
This astonishing new type of computer became Apple’s fastest-selling new product line in history.
Tablet becomes an international success for Apple
The week of the iPad’s international launch, the buzz surrounding the device helped Apple finally overtake Microsoft as the world’s most valuable tech stock. It marked an extraordinary turnaround for Apple. The company had gone from near-bankruptcy to a tech titan in less than 15 years.
Were you an Apple fan and iPad customer back in the summer of 2010? If so, where — and when — did you get your first-generation iPad? Let us know your recollections and first impressions in the comments section below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
