Apple sells 3 million iPads

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Less than three months after its iPad launch, Apple sold its 3 millionth unit of the table device on Monday, the company announced.

"People are loving iPad as it becomes a part of their daily lives," Apple (APPL) CEO Steve Jobs said in a prepared statement. "We're working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more people around the world."

The gadget will go in sale in another nine countries next month.

Apple's iPad is a runaway hit, but its fate wasn't certain: Plenty of naysaying swirled before the tablet's April 3 release. But since then, the iPad has raced through sales milestones and shaken up the gadget market. Amazon and Barnes & Noble on Monday slashed prices on their e-readers, the Kindle and Nook, thanks in part to competition from the pricier but fuller-featured iPad.

The rollout hasn't been glitch-free. AT&T, which is the exclusive provider of 3G services for the iPad, had to patch a security breach earlier this month after a hacker group used AT&T's website to harvest the e-mail addresses of some iPad buyers.

The iPad's latest milestone comes two days before Apple's iPhone 4 hits stores. It too sparked a sales frenzy: Apple sold more than 600,000 units the first day pre-orders were available, and AT&T has suspended sales while it waits for Apple to restock its inventory.