Apple could sell 200,000 to 300,000 iPads this weekend, a sign early sales estimates were too conservative, one analyst told investors Thursday. Such volume mirrors that of the iPhone’s launch, when the Cupertino, Calif. company sold 270,000 of the first iPhones. Apple may sell every iPad on hand, the analyst suggests.
Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster now predicts 900,000 of the tablet devices will be sold during the June quarter and 2.7 million iPads for 2010. Munster also pointed to Apple’s recent announcement that new iPad orders won’t ship until April 12 indicate that “initial demand for iPads was stronger than the company expected.”
The analyst described problems with the iPad’s touch-panel supplier as minor. “We believe the supply constraints are minor because the new ship date is not a significant delay. Both high demand and tight supplies mean “Apple is selling every iPad it can build,” Munster said.
Hoping to control demand, Apple restricted pre-orders to two iPads per customer. However, reportedly changing to Wintek for touch-panels may have contributed to speculation the California company had encountered supply problems. In early March, Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek said a “manufacturing bottleneck” could shrink iPad supplies to 300,000 for the expected April 3 launch.
[via AppleInsider]
