Overall iPad shipments estimated at 23.1 million in Q4 2013

[RaduTyrsina]

The much-awaited Retina display iPad Mini has finally been launched and early benchmarks show it’s quite the best, being five times more powerful than the first-generation iPad Mini. Now, according to a market forecast from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPad Mini 2 shipments are going to increase in the coming months, seriously contributing to the overall iPad shipments.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo’s research note issued to investors, the combined iPad Air and iPad mini sales will reach a new record number of 23.1 million shipped units for the fourth quarter of 2013. The analyst said:

We think current tablet products can, generally, sufficiently meet entertainment needs. As they are very cheap already, lowering prices won't effectively stimulate demand. Only new applications, which will bring about new growth momentum, will be able to solve the structural problems the sector faces.

Apple is expected to register an increase of 102 percent quarter-over-quarter in iPad with Retina display shipments in Q1 of 2014, with a total of 4.5 million units. Shipments of larger iPad models are said to fall from 10.5 million units in Q4 to 6 million units in the first quarter of 2014.

What’s curious is that Kuo believes there’s still a lot of potential for the non-Retina iPad mini, as Kuo forecasts a shipping estimate of 8.5 million in the December quarter and only 1.7 million for the iPad 2.

Source: AppleInsider