Apple has got a winner in iPad and thanks to this tablet, the Cupertino company is on the verge of overtaking HP to grab the top spot in
PC and tablet market. Technically, tablets cannot be counted as PCs, but as iPads are gaining mass approval and are slowly replacing PCs for lighter tasks, it is only fair that Apple should get credit for it.
According to a poll conducted by Fortune, iPads are expected to sell 14 million units in the fourth quarter, up from 11.1 ml units it had sold in the third quarter. This is also 90 percent higher than the number of iPads sold during the fourth quarter of the last year. However, the real numbers are expected to be on the more conservative side as analysts tend to suffer from irrational exuberance when it comes to forecasting Apple products sales. Last quarter, the consensus estimate for iPad sales stood at 11.92 million.
As for Macs, Apple is expected to have sold over 5 million units during the holiday season. When totaled with iPad sales, Apple seems to have move e0 million units during the last quarter of the previous year, which would mean that the Cupertino company holds 17.6 percent market share. HP on the other hand, commands 13 percent market share. Apple is scheduled to announce its quarterly numbers later this month.