Gene Munster, analyst at the US investment banking firm Piper Jaffray, has estimated that as many as 700,000 iPads were sold this weekend (that figure includes pre-orders), more than double his pre-launch forecast. Original predictions for the iPad‘s opening-weekend sales ranged from 200,000 to 400,000, depending on which analyst you spoke to. If Munster is correct, that means that the iPad launch is likely to prove significantly more successful than the launch of the original iPhone – it took Apple over 70 days to move 1 million units of the iPhone when it launched in 2007.
Prior to the iPad‘s launch on Saturday, research company iSuppli predicted that global sales would hit 7.1 million by the end of 2010, doubling to 14.4 million in 2011, and almost tripling to 20.1 million in 2012.
