Since the original iPad was introduced in 2o10, Apple has already sold over 40 million units. That being said, Apple may be on pace to more than double that amount by the end of 2012 with the highly anticipated iPad 3 release.
According to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, Apple is expected to sell at least 48 million iPads this year. In a note to investors, Wu referred to his educated number as a “conservative estimate,” which means that he believes that the device could easily sell over 48 million units.
“We believe this significant refresh will likely help drive higher iPad sales and help further differentiate from arguably the only real competitor in the market, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and not to mention the myriad of Android offerings out there,” says Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. “We are currently modeling 48 million iPad shipments for calendar 2012.”
With all of the speculation and anticipation of the next-generation iPad, these numbers seem very reasonable.