Apple reports it has sold 3 million new iPads since launch day, March 16th

Apple has reported that it has sold 3 million units of its new iPad since it launched Friday March 16th. This report follows Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, stating that the iPad sales over the weekend had made records for the company.

In a response to a question that a financial analyst snuck in about the how the iPad did on its launch weekend, Cook said “We had a record weekend and we are thrilled with it.”

Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phill Schiller, said that “the new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet,” adding, “customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.”

Apple will launch the new iPad in 24 more countries this Friday at 8:00 am, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The increase in sales can be attributed to the growing popularity of the iPad, assuredly. But it’s important to note that this is also the first time that the iPad has launched simultaneously in other countries around the world simultaneously with the U.S..

Earlier today Apple partner AT&T stated that it had also seen its single day activation and sales records broken by Apple’s tablet on its launch day.

The new iPad already accounts for 5% of the internet traffic from all models of iPad in the US. Apple normally shares early sales numbers in the days after launch weekend, so we may get some official numbers from the company soon, perhaps even later today.

The initial iPad sold some 300K units in its first day and hit the 1M unit mark at 28 days. The current iPad tripled that mark at just 4 days. The first Apple tablet took some 80 days to hit 3 million units in sales.