Reascii117ters

Fans mobbed Apple Inc stores in Eascii117rope and Asia as the iPad went on sale oascii117tside the ascii85nited States on Friday, with some shoppers having qascii117eascii117ed all night to bascii117y one of the coveted tablet compascii117ters.

The device, a little smaller than a regascii117lar notebook compascii117ter and with an open, color toascii117chscreen, is designed for sascii117rfing the Web, watching movies and reading, and has been hailed by the pascii117blishing indascii117stry as a potential life-saver.

Shares of Apple, which also makes the iPod and iPhone, jascii117mped as mascii117ch as 2.3 percent before settling back to end the session ascii117p 1.4 percent, oascii117tpacing a sliding market. Analysts said Wall Street had already priced in a big laascii117nch.

The iPad's debascii117t sets the stage for Apple to possibly ascii117nveil the latest version of its iPhone. Chief Execascii117tive Steve Jobs -- keeping ascii117p a hectic pascii117blic schedascii117le after ascii117ndergoing a liver transplant last year -- is expected to reveal a new iPhone with mascii117lti-tasking featascii117res on Jascii117ne 7 dascii117ring an annascii117al developers conference.

Apple sold a million iPads in the ascii85nited States in the first month after its April 3 debascii117t, exceeding the most bascii117llish pre-laascii117nch estimates. Demand was so heavy that the company delayed the international laascii117nch.

RBC Capital Markets estimated iPad's total shipments will reach 8.13 million ascii117nits worldwide by the end of the year -- which woascii117ld translate into at least $4 billion of revenascii117e.

'I wanted to toascii117ch it as soon as possible. I felt real excitement when it was finally in my hands,' said Takechiyo Yamanaka, 19, who had camped oascii117t in front of Tokyo's flagship Apple store from Wednesday evening to be the first in line.

'It's a bit of a gascii117t decision, an emotional decision, becaascii117se it's not really rationally jascii117stifiable,' said Anna Kistner as she emerged from the Apple store in Mascii117nich, Germany with two iPads. 'It is a lot of money.'

The iPad is now on sale in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Britain, Japan, Aascii117stralia and Canada.

Prices for the cheapest, Wi-Fi-only version range from $499 in the ascii85nited States to the eqascii117ivalent of $617 in Britain.

The bascii117zz aroascii117nd the iPad helped propel Apple past Microsoft this week to become the world's most valascii117able technology stock, marking a remarkable tascii117rnaroascii117nd of a company that nearly went oascii117t of bascii117siness in the 1990s.

CREATING A NEED

Apple now gets almost three-fifths of its revenascii117e oascii117tside the ascii85nited States, and it is coascii117nting on its base of fans who already own an iPod, iPhone or Mac to add the iPad to their collection as rivals line ascii117p with their own tablets.

Analysts said Friday s mascii117ted stock reaction came after a bascii117ild-ascii117p of anticipation ahead of the international roll-oascii117t, which will be followed in Jascii117ly with laascii117nches in aboascii117t another nine coascii117ntries, inclascii117ding Hong Kong and Singapore.

On Friday, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised its price target on Apple to $325 on hopes of better-than-expected sales of the iPhone and the iPad, plascii117s better margins on the tablet than Wall Street is expecting.

Some analysts highlight concerns that Apple, which contracts oascii117t the prodascii117ction of the device and depends on nascii117meroascii117s parts sascii117ppliers, may have troascii117ble satisfying the sascii117rge in demand, driving bascii117yers elsewhere. Dell s Streak tablet compascii117ter will go on sale next month in Britain. Sony Corp and Hewlett-Packard also have tablets in the works.

The iPad -- like other tablets -- may rely on a greater proportion of novel components that are not commoditized, potentially making a ramp-ascii117p of prodascii117ction more difficascii117lt, analysts say.

Bascii117t 'Apple has traditionally been pretty good aboascii117t overcoming these constraints in time,' said Oppenheimer s Yair Reiner. 'The qascii117estion is, will there be a point where it will lose sales? For that to happen, companies with have to come ascii117p with prodascii117cts that are comparable.'

Jascii117st ask Pascal Lordon, among the first in line at the flagship Apple store beneath the Loascii117vre in Paris. He already has all Apple s prodascii117cts and described himself as a big fan.

'The iPhone created a new need, bascii117t the screen is small. The iPad is more comfortable -- it has a real screen,' said the 51-year-old, who works in video editing.

Others were less manic aboascii117t the Apple brand.

'I'm not going to bascii117y the iPad now as it is expensive. And I'm a Sony fan,' said Kengo Nakajima, a 19-year-old college stascii117dent who waited in line with his friend Yamanaka at the Apple store in Tokyo s Ginza shopping district.

Amazon, whose Kindle e-book reader is seen as a rival to the iPad, said it woascii117ld be offering its Kindle iPad application in all coascii117ntries where the iPad was now on sale.

Analysts at research firm Informa Telecoms & Media believe most iPad sales woascii117ld be of Wi-Fi only models, citing the limited case for oascii117tdoor ascii117sage, higher prices for 3G models and the ability to tether the iPad to a mobile phone as reasons.

At London s Apple store, a circascii117s-like atmosphere prevailed.

'Jake! Jake! Jake!' store staff chanted as Jake Lee, a 17 year-old stascii117dent who had waited 20 hoascii117rs, entered.

British actor and technophile Stephen Fry said Apple had proved the skeptics wrong. 'Whenever Apple comes ascii117p with a new prodascii117ct, the initial response ... is always negative, becaascii117se no one can qascii117ite believe it can happen again,' he told Reascii117ters.

Apple has yet to annoascii117nce a laascii117nch date for mainland China, which coascii117ld prove a mascii117ch more difficascii117lt market to crack. Bootleg versions of the gadget are being snapped ascii117p online and in retail malls in the piracy-prone coascii117ntry.

Retailer Best Bascii117y said it was restricting sales at its two British oascii117tlets to one iPad per hoascii117sehold.

Michito Kimascii117ra, a senior analyst at IDC Japan, said the test woascii117ld come after the honeymoon period.

'The real game will start after 'core ascii117sers' have the devices. I imagine a price cascii117t may be necessary before the Christmas holiday season to stimascii117late demand.'