Strong first weekend of sales for new iPads

The mini iPad spurred some extra-large sales over the weekend.

Apple’s new device, which is a third smaller and sells for a third less than its original tablet, and its latest edition of the full-sized iPad combined to sell 3 million units in the three days since the Mini’s Friday release.

That’s double the number of iPad 3s that sold during their first day of availability this past March, though Apple declined to say how many of the sales were Minis and how many were iPad 4s.

The release of the fourth-generation iPad prompted some protests from Apple loyalists, who complained that it had come too soon after the third gen iPad. Usually Apple waits a year or more between upgrades.

But this newer edition has a faster processer and a better camera, two selling points that Apple will push hard during the holiday season.

The strong weekend of iPad sales comes as Apple’s dominance in the tablet market continues to wane, with other companies introducing less expensive and equally capable devices.

According to IDC, Apple’s market share of tablets was 50.4 percent in third quarter, down from 59.7 percent at the same time last year. 

Tags: apple, holiday, holiday season, IDC, ipad, ipad mini, ipad sales, market share, new ipad, New Mini, tablet, tablet sales, tablets, time, Usually Apple