A variety of issues with the new iPad have been raised by customers, including that the device overheats, problems with the battery and the fact that users are quickly burning their monthly data allotments.

Apple?s latest iPad was launched to great fanfare a couple of weeks ago and quickly sold 3 million units in the first weekend it was available. However, the usually large number of issues being brought to light by customers raises the question of how future sales might be impacted.

?There are typically issues that come up around any new product release,? said Rhoda Alexander, senior manager of tablet and monitor research at IHS/iSuppli, Santa Clara, CA.

?What is significant at our end is the number of issues that have come up surrounding this latest iPad release that are certainly higher than we saw with the iPad 2 or the first iPad,? she said.

?Those issues may be easily resolved and may represent a small number of customers, but there are more issues being raised.?

Apple did not respond to a request for comment by the press deadline.

High expectations
One reason for all the reported problems may be that consumers have high expectations for Apple products.

Speculation around what features will be available in a new Apple product begin months before its release and sales continue to grow for both iPhones and iPads.

?You have an expectation as the premier vendor in the market that they will release a flawless product,? Ms. Alexander said. ?They have a pretty high bar that they are held to.

?When anything comes along that does not meet expectations, you get issues,? she said. ?This does not mean the product will not be successful.?

?Apple has faced issues with its products before and they have been resolved.?

Whether the issues with the new iPad hint at a larger problem within Apple is impossible to say at this point, per Ms. Alexander.

The issues raised by customers about the new iPad include that it overheats, it has weak Wi-Fi reception and that the battery keeps charging even once it is full.

On their own, these issues appear to be only happening sporadically and to a limited number of customers. However, taken together they suggest a problem that Apple may need to address if it wants to maintain its reputation as a leader in delivering consumer-friendly, high-tech products.

?All of these combined add up that they are going to have address some of these issues and make sure they have a happy group of customers before they move onto the next iPad,? Ms. Alexander said.

Data hogs
Another issue raised by some customers is that the new iPads are causing users to burn through their allotted data usage faster than expected.

There is no inherent problem with the iPad that is causing users to consume more data. However, because some versions of the new iPad can connect with carriers? faster 4G networks, users are able to engage in data-hogging activities ? such as watching an entire movie ? that they might not have done on previous iPads because the experience was not optimal.

Still, the problem is likely limited as most iPad users still connect with the Web via Wi-Fi and not mobile networks.

Localytics looked into iPad usage of apps since the launch of the new iPad and found that between March 16 and 21, only 6 percent of sessions were via a cellular network. Additionally, Wi-Fi devices accounted for 89.7 of sessions, 3G-enabled devices accounted for 8.8 percent and 4G-enabled devices 1.5 percent.

Of the 4G-enabled devices, 36 percent of sessions represented 4G usage while 64 percent represented Wi-Fi usage.

The data issue points more to the need for wireless carriers to adjust their data plans than anything else.

?As we get into the LTE age and more and more devices get up into that capability, data usage will continue to grow,? said Francis Sideco, senior principal analyst for consumer and communications at IHS/iSuppli. ?Outside of the iPad, this is a bigger challenge that the operators need to address.

?Finding a way to aggregate data across multiple devices is one possibility,? he said.

?Carriers are going to have to find a different structure than they offer now because at some point it becomes untenable to afford and manage data plans for so many different mobile devices.?