iPad 2 sales 'amazing' says Apple, but some users report bleeding backlights

Apple may have sold as many as 1 million iPad 2 tablets over its launch weekend, although the company hasn't yet announced an official milestone. Some early buyers are reporting issues with the hardware, however, with "bleeding backlight" issues leading some to seek replacements from Apple.

How many iPad 2s were sold? Nobody knows for sure, and industry analyst estimates are all over the shop, veering between 500,000 and 1 million. The lack of an official statement from Apple could be telling: last April, it quickly announced that the original iPad sold 300,000 units on its first day, before trumpeting the 1 million milestone four weeks after launch.

The only official word from the company so far is a statement from US spokesperson Trudy Muller, given to The Loop: "Demand for the next-generation iPad 2 has been amazing. We are working hard to get iPad 2 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible."

Why should us Brits care how many iPad 2s have been sold in the US, when it doesn't go on sale until 25 March? That's the point: we're slightly paranoid that this launch date could slip if those pesky Americans buy too many tablets this week. If you're thinking of bagging one for launch day, keep your fingers crossed.

That said, there could be a reason to hold fire for now. There have been reports of backlight problems with early iPad 2 models in the US, where light bleeds through from the edges of the device's LCD panel, to noticeable effect when watching films or using apps with a dark background.

Engadget's post about the issue turns up several readers who've taken their iPad 2s back to get a replacement due to the issue. At this stage, though, this doesn't appear to be an antennagate-sized problem across the board, although we'll be keeping tabs on the reports to establish whether it's just a few isolated manufacturing faults.