• Bloomberg et al., Monday, April 5, 2010 1:50 PM

While its long-term prospects remain an open question, the device that many expect to revolutionize content consumption is off to a nice start. As of midnight Saturday, Apple says it sold over 300,000 iPads, including pre-order deliveries, retail sales, and deliveries to channel partners.

By paidContent's estimate, "That represents a minimum of $150 million in first-day sales, using the lowest-end model, and considerably more given the mix of sales."

Not wasting any time, new iPad owners downloaded over 1 million apps by Saturday night, and more than 250,000 e-books through its stores, according to Apple. (The iBooks app comes with one free book, A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, which could have accounted for most of the initial downloads.)

"IPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a prepared statement. "It's going to be a game changer."

Still, as Bloomberg points out, the initial sales fell short of some analysts' estimates. "Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.'s Toni Sacconaghi had projected sales of 300,000 to 400,000 for the first weekend," writes the news outlet. Meanwhile, "Piper Jaffray & Co.'s Gene Munster projected initial sales of at least 600,000 units, after boosting his forecast from as many as 300,000 over the weekend."

"Turns out first day sales of the iPad weren't quite as "magical and revolutionary" as some had thought," snipes Digital Daily, before adding:

"It's important to remember, though, that this first-day sales number is for Wi-Fi-only iPads sold in the states."

"Personally," says Crunch Gear's Robin Wauters, "I'd hold off on analyzing sales numbers until next month, when the first iPads with 3G go on sale, and also in other parts of the world, outside of the United States."

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