Apple is expected to increase its iPad shipments at a faster rate than previously forecast by at least one research firm.
IHS iSuppli predicts that the consumer electronics company will ship 44.2 million iPads this year, up from a previous estimate of 43.7 million.
The research and advisory firm said it lowered its forecast earlier this year due to challenges Apple was facing with iPad 2 production and supply. But Apple has apparently resolved those issues, and IHS iSupply asserts that “Apple’s production now is firmly on track to meet the expected strong second-half 2011 demand."
Apple will account for 74 percent of media tablet shipments this year and 43.6 percent in 2015, according to IHS iSupply.
“All the momentum in the media tablet market is with Apple right now," said Rhoda Alexander, IHS iSupply’s senior manager of tablet and monitor research, in a statement. “The competition can’t seem to field a product with the right combination of hardware, marketing, applications and content to match up with the iPad. Furthermore, Apple’s patent litigation is serving to slow or complicate competitors’ entry into some key regional markets."
In the third quarter ending June 25, 2011, Apple sold 9.25 million iPads, representing a 183 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.
