The Apple fan Abraham Peters shows his iPad. [Xinhua]

At Irvine Spectrum, Orange County, customers lined up to buy the products. Russ Taylor, who was the first to get hold of the new gadget, held high two models he just purchased to the applause of blue-shirted Apply employees. "I am a big fan of iPhone, pretty much all the Apple products," he said, with wide smiles running across his face.

As a touch-screen marvel with Wi-Fi and option to add 3G wireless, the product with Wi-Fi application sells at 499 dollars for the 16 GB version, 599 dollars for 32 GB and 699 dollars for the 64 GB. Many customers, most of them die-hard Apple enthusiasts, choose to buy the 499-dollars model. The models on sale this week are Wi-Fi equipped and start at 499 dollars.

Apple will release a more expensive line of 3G cellular iPads later this month, which will cost as much as 829 dollars and require a data plan from AT&T costing as much as 30 dollars each month.