San Francisco (FT) -- Sales of Apple's iPad have failed to meet the steadily rising expectations for the touchscreen tablet device, letting some of the air out of the enthusiasm that has built on Wall Street in recent weeks.
Apple's shares slipped more than 6 per cent in after-hours trading after it said it had sold 4.2 million of the devices in the three months to the end of September, below the 5 million that some had projected. It sold 3.3 million after being introduced part of the way through the prior quarter.
Meanwhile, Steve Jobs stepped up the rhetoric in his battle with Google, whose Android software has emerged as the main rival for both the iPad and iPhone. The Apple chief executive predicted that consumers would be disappointed by smaller tablets running Android which are expected to be launched in the next six months.
CNN
