Apple hasn't announced its launch weekend sales figures for the iPad Air yet, but that hasn't stopped mobile analytics firms such as Fiksu from offering up their take on how quickly the new tablet is selling. According to Fiksu's data, the iPad Air's launch weekend sales outpaced the fourth generation iPad by five times, and was three times higher than the original iPad mini.
Fisku's data shows high interest in the iPad Air
Based on Fisku's data, the iPad Air accounted for 0.75 percent of all the iPads it saw online as of Sunday night, where last year's fourth generation iPad accounted for 0.37 percent at the end of its launch weekend. The first iPad mini launch weekend last year accounted for 0.35 percent.
The analytics firm tracks the number of iPads and other devices used on the Internet through its own data collection platform used by other company's mobile apps.
According to Fisku's data, the iPad 2 currently accounts for 37.1 percent of the iPads in use, the fourth generation iPad makes up 22.5 percent, the iPad mini comes in at 20.8 percent, and the third generation iPad holds 18.5 percent. The iPad Air already makes up more of the overall iPad market than the original iPad at 0.8 percent compared to 0.4 percent.
Apple began selling the iPad Air on November 1 in stores around the United States and in several other countries. The new model is thinner and narrower than the fourth generation iPad, weighs about half a pound less, includes Apple's new 64-bit A7 processor and M7 motion coprocessor, faster graphics, better WiFi performance, built-in stereo speakers, and more.
Shoppers didn't seem to have much trouble getting their hands on the iPad Air after it went on sale last Friday, so if Fisku's data is right, it looks like Apple was able to make enough to keep up with strong demand.
That said, Fisku's data set is somewhat limited since it's collecting data from mobile apps that use its technology, and only if they're online. Instead of looking at the data as hard and fast figures, it's more of an indicator of overall interest in the iPad Air.
Considering the iPad Air is different enough from the iPad 2 and third generation iPad, it's likely a lot of people that didn't see the fourth generation iPad as a big enough change were ready to upgrade this year.