When Apple first announced their new tablet, the iPad, there was a lot of speculation. One thing that people couldn’t decide, however, was if the iPad was to be a supplementary product to the iPod/iPhone, or to Mac computers.
Now that we have some actual numbers to work with, you might be surprised by the results. Apple expects to see an extra billion and a half dollars in revenue thanks to the iPad’s underestimated popularity (underestimated as in an extra 3 billion units than was originally predicted). It is hard to say how the iPad will do in foreign markets when it is made available overseas, and in Canada, on May 28th. Here are the forecasted shipments for iPads in Q3 and Q4 of 2010, as well as Q1 for 2011, provided by RBC:
It is difficult to predict whether these figures will be underestimated as well, as iPads have been selling out all over the United States. Now how does this impact Mac sales? Well, while iPads have been selling at a rate of about 200,000 per week, Macs are almost half that, at 110,000 per week. So does this mean that the iPad is replacing laptops? Or do you think these numbers reflect just a fad of early technology adopters? Only time will tell as to whether Apple can keep up the pace of iPad sales.
InfoCredit: AppleInsider
