Predictions on demand for iPad are astonishing

Even by Apple standards, the hype around the iPad is difficult to fathom (in part because I couldn't imagine laying out $600 for one).

(2010's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries) [1]

From a Forbes story [2] this morning:

Investors are already betting iPad sales will exceed the other frenzy seen two years ago, when Apple sold 1.12 million iPhones during its first complete quarter of sales. In fact, in a little less than a year iPad unit sales are expected to exceed the estimated 3 million Kindles that have sold to date.

IPad sales estimates vary, but they're all impressive. In a note to investors Tuesday Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes estimated Apple will sell 5 million iPads during the 2010 calendar year. This includes 1.2 million units sold during the quarter ending in June, an estimate Reitzes says "could prove conservative." Macquarie Equities analyst Richard Chloe estimates Apple will sell 2.5 million iPads with an average selling price of $599 during the 2010 fiscal year.

Outsell the Kindle in a year? If that's to come to fruition, Apple had better start by learning from Amazon's goof [3] and making enough of them.

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