Apple's iPad debut attracts crowds, rivalling iPhone frenzy

Apple Inc’s iPad tablet computer went on sale yesterday, drawing crowds to stores across the US and rivalling the frenzy seen when the iPhone went on sale in 2007.

Hundreds of shoppers lined up to wait for stores to open at 9 am, though crowds didn’t camp out for days this time, as they did when the iPhone debuted. Many of the buyers identified themselves as early adopters and Apple enthusiasts, making it harder to tell if the iPad will win over mainstream customers.

“I love it,” said Jacob Arentoft, a 37-year-old digital business developer from Copenhagen. After exiting Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, he unpacked the brand-new silver gadget and waved it at the crowd. “The size fits, the design fits, everything fits.”

The iPad is Apple’s bid to turn tablet computers into popular consumer devices, something rivals such as Microsoft Corp have failed to do. The product builds on the success of Apple’s iPhone and iPod, staking out the middle ground between smartphones and laptop computers. Apple is betting the design is enticing enough that consumers are willing to pay a premium over low-cost notebooks. It starts at $499.

“It’s ridiculously expensive, way overpriced,” said Josh Klenert, a 36-year-old graphic designer, who still went ahead and bought one. Klenert, whose one-bedroom apartment in Tribeca has “more Macs than people,” pre-ordered the iPad as soon as it was available and came down to Apple’s SoHo store in New York to be one of the first to buy it.

“You may call it a dumb computer or a smart telephone — it’s in between,” said Klenert, who plans to use it for reading newspapers and magazines. “It’s a unique, sexier device. More like a sofa-based device.”

Apple retail chief Ron Johnson, who was at the Fifth Avenue store and addressed employees before it opened, said having added two more stores in New York City since the iPhone’s introduction helped spread out crowds of shoppers.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co, expects Apple to sell 200,000 to 300,000 iPads this weekend. The full- year sales may reach 7.1 million globally, according to ISuppli Corp.

Apple declined to comment, said Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for the Cupertino, California-based company.

Apple fans began lining up Friday at Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs’s hometown store in Palo Alto, California. More than 200 people were waiting before the store opened, and employees handed out Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee. The shoppers included tech blogger Robert Scoble, who was one of the first in line, and Bill Atkinson, author of Apple’s MacPaint and MacWrite software programs for the first Macintosh computers.

Scott Forstall, Apple’s executive in charge of iPhone and iPad software, stood on the street filming the crowd as store employees counted down from 10 to the store’s opening. He then helped out at the customer service desk, answering questions and mingling with the early iPad buyers. Jobs showed up later in the morning.