Asus Sells Out Tablet on Launch Day

The Eee Pad, which was released in U.S. this morning, is sold out in stores across the country, as nearly a hundred thousand people snatched up cheaper tablet. At only $400, compared to the iPad's $500, the Eee Pad is competitively price, and comes with an attachable keyboard that converts the tablet into a netbook-like device.

Of course Asus has only shipped about 100,000 tablets so far, compared to Apple's 4.7 million iPads during the winter quarter. While it probably won't overtake Apple's high-end product, the brisk sales by Asus show that it and others like Acer and Sony may be able to compete for top place in a new lower range of tablets.

Compared to Motorola's more expensive Xoom, Asus certainly did well today. The jury is still out on competitor Acer's Iconia Tab A500, which also went on sale today at $450.

BlackBerry too joined in the tablet game, launching its PlayBook on April 19. However RIM only sold 50,000 units on its launch day. Verizon is mulling over whether to sell the PlayBook, which could boost its popularity on the nation's largest network.

Sony, meanwhile, plans to sell its own tablets this fall, the S1 and S2, the second of which features a foldable, dual-screen set up.

With so many Android tablet offerings coming into town, Asus will face stiff competition against its current place as top dog in the Android tablet market. But its current success may show that the market has plenty of appetite for iPad competitors combining strong specs with competitive prices.

The Eee Pad runs on Android 3.0 and a Tegra 2 mobile processor, with a healthy 9.5-hour battery life and an optional QWERTY keyboard docking station. It also has a 10.1-inch touch screen display and a 1.3-megapixel webcam with microphone for video chatting.