3.27 million iPads sold in less than a full quarter

Apple sold 3.27 million iPads in less than a full quarter, according to its just released third quarter financial results. The third quarter started about a week before the iPad came out, and of course, there were some supply issues. Imagine what they could do in a full quarter with manufacturing and mindshare (i.e. now everyone knows that they are worth it) fully ramped up?

Macs outsold the iPad by only about 200,000 units, which is significant, but it’s somewhat hard to imagine that many people are making the choice (yet) between buying a Mac and buying an iPad – that choice lies distinctly with the choice between the iPod Touch and the iPad (unfortunately there were no specific iPod Touch numbers released).

While there is speculation that there will be a new iPod Touch on the market with two cameras, a better processor and perhaps a Retina display, we still think that it won’t be too hard a choice for new buyers to purchase the $499 iPad over say a $300 iPod Touch.

Now imagine if Apple put a camera and Retina display on the iPad…