Apple has revealed that it sold its 1 millionth iPad last on Friday, just 28 days after its introduction on 3 April. It says also that iPad users have downloaded over 12m apps from the App Store and over 1.5m ebooks from the new iBookstore.

“One million iPads in 28 days – that’s less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone,” says Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. “Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers.”

There are currently more than 5,000 apps available for the iPad. The device will run almost all of the more than 200,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already downloaded for iPhones or iPod touch devices. 

While it’s hard to quibble with sales of 1m in less than a month, it does make the figure of 300,000 sold on the first day that Apple announced a few weeks ago look a little optimistic. At that rate, it would have taken only four days to sell 1m. The key, no doubt, lay in the fact that the figure of 300,000 related to sales out to retailers, and to customers who had pre-ordered the device. Either actual first day sales were much lower than 300,000, or sales dropped off dramatically after the first day. We’ve asked Apple’s press office for clarification. We’ll update this story if and when we get it.