Sales for the highly anticipated iPad hit 450,000 on Thursday, according to Apple's chief executive.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs told the audience at the Live: iPhone OS 4.0 preview event at its Cupertino, CA headquarters that the company has sold about 150,000 additional iPad units since its April 3rd launch.

The iPad went on sale nationwide at 9 a.m. last Saturday with a base price of $499. According to Jobs, iPad users downloaded 250,000 iBook titles on the first day, but that total is now above 600,000. Additionally, customers have downloaded more than 3.5 million iPad apps from the Apple store, which now features 185,000 of them according to Jobs.

The tablet device was met with much fanfare, but first day sales of 300,000 fell short of some analysts' expectations. Many expected Apple to sell as many as 700,000 units in its first weekend.