It was probably a foregone conclusion to say that the new iPad was going to have some big sales numbers. It only launched just three days ago, March 16, but already the Apple website is showing shipping delays on all of its iPad model. And then Tim Cook took the metaphorical stage at a conference call this morning to discuss what to do with Apple's cash hoard. Naturally, some question came up about the new iPad, and Cook confirmed it had been a “record weekend.”

Early projections from analyst Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research said that the weekend's sales were “somewhat light,” and based said projections on hits to the Chitika ad network, citing a lack of upgrade to the design of the product itself, a lack of “emotional outpouring” for the new iPad, and higher gas prices. But Cook put paid to that with the reports that the iPad was doing very well indeed.

Cook had intended to stay away from product news on the conference call, at last report, instead planning to talk primarily about the nearly $100 billion stockpile of cash Apple was holding. But naturally, questions emerged about sales numbers for the new iPad—which, to be fair, were going to put a serious jump in said stockpile—and Cook responded in the affirmative, saying it had been a “record weekend” and the team was “thrilled.” And when AT&T put out its own press release stating that they'd set a brand new record for sales and activations in a single day, that drove the point home for Apple.

Of course, being as the new iPad's launch was one of the widest launches ever for an Apple device, it was hard to conceive of the launch being anything but a record-setter, even if the actual launch itself was soft (the iPad 2 launch, by comparison, was much more gradual), but considering AT&T's report to ring assent, it's tough to see any conclusion but a big sales weekend as valid. And when you consider the overall economic environment, that makes the numbers even more impressive.

So one thing is perfectly clear: Apple's newest tablet had a very big weekend indeed, and likely won't stop having big weekends any time in the near future.