Four days after its release, the iPad Air is selling at a much faster pace than Apple’s previous models. In fact, within two days of launch, the iPad Air had five times the usage that iPad 4 had after its own launch, and three times that of the iPad Mini.
Four days after, following the big early-adopter rush, it’s maintaining that lead.
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There are a number of reasons for that, of course.
One is simply the number of launch countries. While the iPad 4 was launched in 27 countries, the iPad Air is being launched in 42 countries simultaneously — including China. Another is that this is the first full-sized iPad that has seen a significant, visibly obvious hardware difference: smaller size.
The high usage is a validation of Apple’s tablet strategy.
iPad Air is the most significant change to Apple’s full-sized tablet since the original iPad, with lower weight, a 64-bit processor, and a slimmer body, all adding up to a tablet that’s easier to hold in your hands. Which means that current iPad owners are seeing a reason to upgrade, perhaps for the first time in two product generations. And while the device is selling in many more countries at launch, it’s also competing with a larger number of active iPads in the marketplace for usage share.
“It’s having a remarkable opening weekend,” Fiksu says.
iPad Air is still only .7 percent of all iPads for usage share right now, so there’s a long ways to go. iPad 2 is still the most common iPad in the wild, with a 38.6 percent usage share.
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But a good Christmas shopping season could do a lot to change that.
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