Report: iPad preorders numbering in 'hundreds of thousands'
Few outside of Apple have seen an iPad in person, but that hasn't stopped a rush of preorders for the touch-screen tablet device.Sources have told The Wall Street Journal that Apple has "sold hundreds of thousands" of iPads since the device went on presale March 12. If this keeps up, Apple could end up selling more iPads in the first three months than original iPhones sold the first three months after its debut, according to those sources.It's unclear if that means actual sales only, or if that includes reservations for in-store pickups of the device. Apple.com is taking reservations for customers who want to pick up a device in a store on the first day of sale, April 3, but it doesn't require a credit card to be put down. That means if they don't pick up the device by 3 p.m. that day the iPad reservation is canceled. In other words, a reservation should not yet be counted as a sale, but again it's not entirely clear how the iPad presales are being counted.Also of note in the Journal's story: Apple is coming down to the wire on striking content deals for the iPad. Negotiations are ongoing between Apple and media companies for discounted TV shows via iTunes, according to the Journal's sources. Partnerships between Apple and newspapers, magazines, and textbook publishers are also still yet to be cemented, and have "been put on the backburner" in favor of other types of content, the report says.Besides content, some accessories for the touch-screen device are also a little behind schedule. Both the keyboard dock/charging station and the 10W USB power adapter won't be available until May.
