iPad, we have a problem.
After weeks of hype over the new touch-screen tablet, Apple is now acknowledging that the device sometimes has trouble connecting to the Internet.
"Under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep," Apple said in a post on its technical support site late last night. Apple did not respond to an e-mail query from USA Today this morning.
Apple's post came after complaints from iPad users, who said they weren't able to get a Wi-Fi connection or that the connection kept getting dropped. Several, on a message board on Apple's support site, said laying the iPad on a flat surface worsened the problem.
The technical glitch could dim the glow around iPad, which is expected to be Apple's next big hit product and redefine the sluggish $1.3 billion tablet market worldwide. An estimated 300,000 iPads were sold on Saturday, though the figure fell short of the 600,000 to 700,000 first-day sales predicted by longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster.
The iPad, a hybrid that falls somewhere between a laptop and a smartphone, went on sale Saturday. It connects to the Internet over a Wi-Fi connection, though Apple will start selling an iPad version that connects to the Internet via 3G wireless service from AT&T, later this month.
Apple says the Internet-related problems can occur with third-party Wi-Fi routers that are dual-band capable if more than one network has the same name or someone had different security settings for the different networks. Apple suggests users create separate names for different Wi-Fi bands and make sure that multiple networks have the same security settings.
If problems persist, Apple's post suggests resetting iPad's network settings.
Analyst Munster estimates the problem probably affects less than 2% of all iPads.
Maynard Um, an analyst at UBS, projects iPad unit shipments of 2.1 million in fiscal year 2010 and 4.6 million in fiscal year 2011. Though he is "bullish" about iPad's long-term prospects, he wants to see more compelling applications to drive its sales in the mass market.
By Jon Swartz
USA Today
