Apple’s First iPad Officially Released Today On April 3, And Even After 14 Years, No Other Company Has Been Able To Create Any Meaningful Competition

The first iPad took form on January 27, 2010, and it was marketed as a device that would deliver more than those underpowered netbooks while offering more portability. With its unique form factor, the iPad offered a utility that is entirely different from what an iPhone or a Mac could do. Today, on April 3, Apple’s first tablet was officially released in the U.S., and 14 years later, we see that the company has kept this category going, with little to no competition to break its momentum.

This year, Apple is reported to unveil the first OLED iPad, but its foundation would have ceased to exist had the slate not launched in 2010

Where Apple now unveils both the Wi-Fi-only and ‘Wi-Fi + Cellular’ versions of its iPad, on April 3, only the Wi-Fi variant officially arrived in the U.S. market initially, but the technology giant maintained its determination and eventually introduced the cellular model in late April. Where current-generation tablets ship with ultra-fast 5G modems that support both mmWave and sub-6GHz bands, for the first version, technological standards limited the Cupertino firm, so the iPad only supported 3G connectivity. Eventually, this model found its way to overseas markets on May 28.

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The majority of blogs and technology media publications praised the first iPad, showing appreciation for the product’s capabilities while also labeling it as a competitor to notebooks and netbooks. However, with every product comes some gripes, and the first iPad had its fair share that Apple has not bothered to change much after 14 years. The complaints at the time ranged from the closed operating system to the lack of the Adobe Flash multimedia format.

However, despite these comments, within the first 80 days of its inception, the first-generation iPad sold three million units, and when the iPad 2 was launched, Apple had already shipped more than 15 million units.