Apple sells 120,000 iPads in first 24 hours

Fortune magazine writer Philip Elmer DeWitt is reporting that Apple sold 90,000 iPad tablets in the first 6 hours of availability yesterday, with the majority purchasing the Wi-Fi-only 16GB version. By the first 24 hours, that number had swelled to almost 120,000.

The group of analysts compiling the data is asking that anyone who purchased an iPad please just email their order number to ipadsales10@gmail.com to keep the tally current.

Original estimates showed around 50,000 sales in the fist two hours, and then 75,000 in the first 4.5 hours.

The numbers are unofficial, but rest assured if they are anywhere near accurate, Apple will release a press release on Monday noting the extremely strong pre-order sales.