12 Months Later, Nobody Is Joking About iPad's Name Anymore

Exactly 12 months ago, Apple’s Steve Jobs launched the iPad in San Francisco. Today, 12 months later, the iPad has apparently shipped some 15 million units, generating Apple the revenue of approximately $10 billion (note: iPad became actually available on March 27th 2010). This success has made it one of the most spectacular product launches of all times. As a result, iPad established a new category of devices and became a household name.

Me with an iPad at the G20 Summit

It wasn’t the case right away. The name I mean. In fact, the name of iPad caused a major uproar as the many people laughed about the name’s similarity with certain feminine products - just see this CNN article. Some people argued back then that Apple made a mistake and that they need to reconsider this clearly insensitive name. Even the iPad itself was predicted to become a flop by many pundits. Well, the history has proven yet again that product naming is much more an art than a science and Apple got the art figured out in a scientific way.

Today, nobody is laughing about iPad. No one is questioning Apple’s bold move to create a new category of devices that are between smartphones and laptops. Apple has clearly shown that such category is not just viable but,  in fact, ridiculously profitable. Nobody is joking about the name anymore and the competition is nowhere in sight. Actually, I suspect that Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble are might be discussing new names for their female hygiene products today. And even if not, they surely envy the $10 bln in revenue for a single product. 

I got my iPad sometimes back in April and I love it. Chapeau, Apple!