After the initial weekend of sales, Apple has already put some three million of the new iPads into consumer hands, according to a new press release from the company. Thanks to both the iPad Mini (though just the Wi-Fi version) and the iPad fourth generation, Apple has doubled its earlier iPad opening weekend record of 1.5 million sold.

Interestingly, in the release, Cook said the iPad mini has “practically sold out”, and that they’re trying to build more of them to meet demand. It’ll be interesting to see if “practically sold out” over the next week or two turns into “actually sold out” as more people pick them up who didn’t want to deal with the weekend crowds.

Here’s the full press release:

Apple Sells Three Million iPads in Three Days

Wi-Fi Only Models of New iPad mini & Fourth Generation iPad Double Previous First Weekend Sales

CUPERTINO, California—November 5, 2012—Apple® today announced it has sold three million iPads in just three days since the launch of its new iPad® mini and fourth generation iPad—double the previous first weekend milestone of 1.5 million Wi-Fi only models sold for the third generation iPad in March. The Wi-Fi + Cellular versions of both iPad mini and fourth generation iPad will ship in a few weeks in the US and in many more countries later this year.

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

The new iPad mini features a stunning 7.9-inch Multi-Touch™ display, FaceTime® HD and iSight® cameras, ultrafast wireless performance* and an incredible 10 hours of battery life**. The new fourth generation iPad features a gorgeous 9.7-inch Retina™ display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance.

Both iPad mini and the new fourth generation iPad with Retina display are available in 34 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the UK, and will be available in many more countries later this year, including mainland China. Demand for iPad mini exceeded the initial supply and while many of the pre-orders have been shipped to customers, some are scheduled to be shipped later this month.