Apple sells 500,000 iPad 2 tablets in US opening weekend

Analyst firm Piper Jaffray has predicted that Apple sold 500,000 units of the iPad 2 in its opening weekend in the US, signalling that the tablet will continue to dominate the market.

Stocks of the iPad 2 are reported to have run dry as early as Saturday, as sales of the second-generation iPad appear to be stronger than for the original device, which sold 300,000 units on its first day.

Just hours after Apple made the iPad 2 available to order online, the expected shipping time was pushed back from five to seven days, and then to two to three weeks. Over the weekend, this date was pushed back even further and currently stands at three to four weeks.

If demand continues at this pace, the iPad 2 could eclipse the record set by Apple's original tablet, which hit the three million sales mark just 80 days after launch.

Apple also appears to have attracted new users to its platform, with over 70 per cent of potential customers not owning the original iPad, according to a survey by Piper Jaffray. There was a fairly even split between respondents wanting the Wi-Fi only model compared to the 3G-enabled device.

V3.co.uk contacted Apple to confirm the reports, but the firm declined to do so and was unable to tell us when official sales figures will be announced.

However, it is not all good news for Apple as the first problems have also been reported. Some iPad 2 owners have noticed that a yellow tint has started to appear on their screens, but it is unclear whether this is a major problem on the scale of the iPhone 4 antennagate issue.

V3.co.uk was at the Apple Store in San Francisco and managed to get one of the coveted tablets. We have posted a hands-on video demo of the iPad 2.

We have also noted our first impressions of the Apple iPad 2.