AAPL Rises 4.1% to Record Territory on iPad Shipping Date

Shares in Apple Inc. moved into record territory on Friday on the news that Apple had announced a shipping date for its iPad. The company said the device would ship April 3rd, 2010, and be available for pre-order on March 12th, and the news sent the stock to US$219.49, a gain of $8.78 (+4.17%) on heavy volume in the early afternoon trading session.

Apple had originally said the device would ship in about 60 days from its January 27th announcement, putting the April 3rd date just outside of that range. Investors may, however, be reacting positively simply because some reports and analysts had said production issues might delay the launch of the device or cause initial availability to be constrained. A definitive shipping date from Apple, therefore, removes any uncertainty about the device's launch.

Pricing for the iPad starts at US$499 for the WiFi only version with 16GB of storage, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB. The WiFi plus 3G model costs $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB model, and $829 for the 64GB model.

The 3G version will also be available for pre-order on March 12th, but will ship in late April.

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.