The first signs of success for the much-awaited Apple iPad tablet were apparently on their way, with March 12 - the first day of pre-orders for the device – reportedly witnessing nearly 91,000 units of the device being pre-ordered in merely six hours of its availability!

With analysts now predicting the first-year sales of the iPad – launching next month - to notch up to almost 5 million, the pre-orders frenzy has seemingly dispelled some of the doubts about the consumers’ acceptance of the device.

However, despite the supposedly ‘brisk’ pre-orders for the iPad, there are still palpable apprehensions about the device actually making it big. In fact, most of the people interested in the device would probably wait to see the response of the “early adopters” of the device - once the basic version hits the market - before deciding whether or not to go in for it.

According to Engadget. com, when the site’s almost 60,000 of the tech-savvy readers were questioned about their possible plans to buy the new Apple device, priced at $499 for the low-end model, about 19 percent said ‘Yes’; 65 percent ‘No’; and 16 percent asked: “What's an iPad?”

It is quite likely that the pre-order enthusiasm witnessed on Friday was largely tinkered by the notable ambivalence among those who geeked-out on Twitter as well as the discussion boards.