Reuters Summit - iPad sales likely to boost mall sales

Visitors walk past a poster advertising the new iPad at an Apple retail store in Madrid May 28, 2010.

(For other news from the Reuters Global Luxury Summit, click here)

By Ilaina Jonas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of Apple Inc's iPad, which debuted on April 3, have been so strong that the multimedia tablet will likely push the needle for monthly mall sales, upscale mall operator Taubman Centers Inc said.

"It will have an impact on the mall industry as a whole," William Taubman, the company's chief operating officer, said at the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in New York.

Unlike Simon Property Group Inc, which has interests in or manages more than 300 U.S. malls, Taubman owns, manages or leases just 26 malls. Apple stores are located in 15, or more than half, of Taubman's malls -- such as Fair Oaks Mall in Virginia and the Mall at Short Hills, in New Jersey.

"Apple had an extraordinary April in which their sales were really unprecedented as a result of the iPad," Taubman said. "That will impact mall numbers in April and skew the numbers north. Apple is an important enough element in particular in our portfolio, and they have a bigger impact on our portfolio than anyone else's."

Apple has sold more than 2 million iPads -- the 9.7-inch touchscreen tablet, which resembles a large iPhone and is designed for Web surfing, games and consuming digital media -- since the device debuted. International sales began May 29.

Taubman said investors will have to strip out the iPad debut effect and look to May sales figures to get a better indication about how the retail sector as a whole is doing.

"We actually had a good April without Apple, but I don't think the industry as a whole did," he said.

Shares of Taubman fell 2.07 percent, or 84 cents, to close at $39.65 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Richard Chang)