Apple's iPad Sales Predicted to Reach 300 Million Units

Apple AAPL is frequently predicted to sell record-breaking numbers of its newest products. Quantum International QUAN (OTC Pink: QUAN), a robotics company that recently announced that it will produce "revolutionary iPad cases that enhance the tablet," is very confident in Apple's future success. The firm has predicted that Apple will ship 300 million tablets before the end of the year. To put that into perspective, Apple sold 19.5 million tablets during the March quarter. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant would have to ship an additional 280.5 million units in 2013 to reach Quantum's predicted figure. As of January 2013, Apple had sold more than 120 million iPads worldwide. With sales from the March quarter factored in, Apple should be up to 140 million units. That is the total number of iPads that consumers have purchased since the device was released in 2010. It is an impressive, record-breaking achievement that no other tablet maker has come close to reaching. It is also less than half the number of units Quantum expects Apple to ship in a single year. This begs the question: if 300 million people did not want to buy an iPad over the last 36 months, why would they want one now? Sales demand aside, it may not be physically possible for Apple to produce that many units in 2013. For example, one report claimed that iPad 5 productioncould delay the release of the iPad Mini 2. If Apple cannot manufacture enough units of both products to release them at the same time, how could it ever produce enough tablets to ship 300 million units? Apple was previously rumored to ship 100 million tablets this year -- 60 million full-size units and 40 million iPad Minis. While iPad Mini demand has recently increased (55 million are now expected to be sold), full-size iPad demand has plummeted. Consequently, Apple may only ship 33 million 10-inch tablets this year. With all of this in mind, Quantum's figure sounds like it may be impossible to reach. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ