iPad the fastest seller ever, but no threat to PCs

THE iPad has become the fastest selling gadget in history, but its success isn't cutting into personal computer sales.

THE iPad has become the fastest selling gadget in history, but its success isn't cutting into personal computer sales.

About 3 million iPads were sold in the 80 days following its April release, said technology publication Wired, citing a Bernstein Research report.

Apple was currently selling about 4.5 million units each quarter, it said.

By comparison, the original iPhone sold 1 million units in the three months following its launch and DVD players sold about 350,000 in the first quarter following their launch.

Despite the astronomical start, only 13 per cent of iPad owners surveyed in a separate study conducted by NPD chose to buy an iPad instead of a PC.

The finding temporarily sets aside fears by PC makers that the revolutionary tablet device will cannibalise PC sales.

Earlier studies suggested the iPad would significantly hurt PC sales.

Only last month, Best Buy chief executive Brian Dunn told The Wall Street Journal that iPad sales had replaced as much as 50 per cent of all laptop sales at the electronics retail chain.