iPad: 28 million units to be sold next year

Although greatly criticized, Apple’s iPad is a really successful product – successful enough to influence notebook sales worldwide. The iPad’s price is similar to that of the lower end PC’s, thus it is becoming more and more attractive for the clients in this segment.

The iPad’s popularity caused many of Apple’s competitors to rush similar devices into development. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is the first serious competitor, but others are going to launch soon. iPad (or other tablet PC) buyers also tend to delay the purchase of a new PC or the upgrade of the existing one.

As the iPad and the similar devices are smaller, less powerful and are relying on the DRAM much less, the popularity of the iPad and its competitors also influences the RAM sales. Samsung has already announced that there is an oversupply of memory modules due to the small PC sales.

Maynard Um, analyst at the UBS Investment Research, believes that next year will bring more sales for the iPad, the number of units sold reaching 28 million or even more. Um is confident of the continuous growth of Apple, as long as the company will be able to keep its products fresh and innovative.