Apple's new iPad proved to be another hot-seller on Friday, March 16, with hundreds queuing at stores across Asia to be the first to get their hands on the 4G-ready tablet computer as the company's share price hit $600 for the first time.

According to Reuters, as consumers lined up around city streets to buy the iPad, one firm that took the new device apart said Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Samsung Electronics had all held onto their prized roles as key parts suppliers.

The new iPad is a progressive development of Apple's tablet, with a more powerful CPU and screen and better camera. It was not marketed as a revolutionary product like earlier versions, yet Apple devotees still snapped up the latest version.

It peaked half an hour after the first iPad went on sale in Australia, extending the market worth of the world's most valuable company to almost $560 billion.

Only a month earlier, the stock price had crossed $500 for the first time. The stock has jumped 45 percent this year.

At Thursday's closing price of $585.56, the stock is far more expensive than the $499 starting price for a Wi-Fi iPad.

The new iPad goes on sale on Friday in 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Singapore, France and Britain, with diehards lining up overnight in front of Apple stores in Munich, Paris, London, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Wall Street expects a strong start for the latest iPad and some analysts even expect sales of the current model to overtake the iPad 2. Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 but dropped its price by $100 to start at $399.

Apple may sell 65.6 million iPads, according to an estimate by Canaccord Genuity analysts who also raised their target price on Apple stock to $710 from $665. So far, the company has sold 55 million iPads since it was launched in 2010.

Tablet sales are expected to increase to 326 million by 2015 with Apple largely dominating the market, according to research firm Gartner. The iPad competes with Samsung Electronic's Galaxy and Motorola's Xyboard, among others.