WSJ: Hundreds of thousands of iPads sold, Apple scrambling for content deals

The Wall Street Journal has written that Apple is scrambling to get everything ready for the iPad's release on April 3rd -- not only has it already "sold hundreds of thousands of the device, [according to] people familiar with the matter," but Apple is also working hard to try and "nail down" several big content deals with television companies, having put their original drive for print media on hold for the moment.

Not really news in and of itself, as almost everyone expects content to be a big part of the iPad's revenue, but it is a little surprising to hear that Apple is still fighting to get deals done. The WSJ says that some content owners feel that the iPad is a threat to their current revenue streams -- the same old story that we've always heard about iTunes content delivery.

Of course, none of this comes directly from Apple, but they obviously wouldn't confirm if they didn't have all of the deals they wanted squared away before the device's release. The shift from print to multimedia may have something to do with it -- the iPad was originally introduced, along with iBooks, as a reader device, with the additional bonus of being able to play movies. But now that the ad has been premiered on the Oscars and a little more buzz has grown up around the multimedia possibilities, Apple may be more pressured to deliver on release day. We'll have to see -- I doubt that all of those iPad preorders will want to return their device if they can't watch all of their favorite shows on it, but obviously Apple wants to have the biggest library they can at launch.
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