Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company, wrote to investors today that Apple shipped 20 million iPad devices during the three-month period that ended in June. Wolf initially said that Apple would ship 13.5 million iPads during the quarter.
If Wold is correct and Apple did indeed ship that many iPad devices last quarter, it would spell out a new record high for the company, which sold 9.25 million iPads in the same period last year and hit 11.8 million in the first quarter of this year. Wolf expects it to even outsell the iPhone:
“In our view, it’s only a matter of time before iPad shipments exceed iPhone shipments,” Wolf said, according to AppleInsider. “The iPad is invading the business market at a much faster pace than the iPhone. In addition, the iPad will launch in China on July 20th. This should provide a significant boost in sales now that Apple is providing Chinese languages and services on its iOS platform.”
Apple will announce the real numbers on July 24. Apple reports sales numbers while Wolf was referring to shipments, so it’s very possible that his estimates could be a bit over the top. But then, most analyst predictions are.