Analyst: 700K iPads sold on day one; Steve Jobs makes surprise appearance at Apple Store Palo Alto

Yesterday, “in Palo Alto, shortly past noon, shoppers got more than a new shiny object – Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed up and his presence gave everyone a giddy brush with Silicon Valley high tech fame,” John Boudreau reports for The San Jose Mercury News.

“Wearing a black hoodie and jeans, Jobs , who came with his wife and daughter, scanned the displays of tech goodies and watched Apple employees give ipad how-to demonstrations. And of course he drew amazed gazes from shoppers already expressing excitement overload – the equivalent of a sugar high for Apple fans,” Boudreau reports.

“‘I love the iPad,’ one twenty something female shopper said to Jobs,” Boudreau reports. “To which he happily replied, ‘good!’ Many in the crowed pulled out cameras and iphones to capture the most magic Silicon Valley moment.”

Boudreau reports, “Jobs also chatted with a handful of other shoppers, but in the end most did not allow the 30 minute appearance — even by Apple royalty — to get in the way of the serious business of buying new iPads.”

“Apple did not provide details of opening-day sales. But Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who had predicted that as many as 300,000 iPads would be sold this weekend, revised his numbers upward Saturday to between 600,000 and 700,000 units purchased on the first day,” Boudreau reports. “That contrasts with 270,000 iPhones sold during that product’s initial launch.”

Full article here.