Following a record holiday quarter for Apple (AAPL), Canaccord Genuity technology analyst Mike Walkley estimated AAPL iPad sales for all of 2012 would be approximately 55 million units, a 30% jump from total 2011 tablet sales of 38.1 million. Mr. Walkley said:
“. . .the iPad 2 remains by far the best selling tablet versus very modest sales of competing products such as the RIM (RIMM) PlayBook, LG G-Slate and the Motorola (MMI) Xybord.” He noted that the iPad 2 market share for 2011 was 52.4%. The next largest market share is held by Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle Tablet With 10.3%.
For a Listing of Tablet Estimates for 2012, Click Here
He added, “Longer term, we believe new features introduced through iOS 5 and iCloud have significantly enhanced Apple’s leading iOS ecosystem, and this should lead to strong replacement sales cycles for both iPhone and iPad and help drive strong longer term earnings growth.”
Mr. Walkley reiterated his BUY rating and $560 price target on the company.