Overseas electronic gadget enthusiasts will finally be able to get their first hands-on experience with Apple’s iPad beginning Friday, when the company opens the shipment floodgates in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Major European wireless carriers have already announced plans for the new device, including Orange, T-Mobile, Telefonica and Vodafone.
Apple sold more than 300,000 iPads on the device’s first day of availability in the United States, and shipped more than one million units in the first four weeks, including pre-orders. As a result of the stronger-than-expected U.S. demand, Apple had to delay the iPad’s international launch by one month.
Analysts are waiting to see if Wall Street’s most highly valued technology company will be able to duplicate, or perhaps even exceed, the iPad’s impressive U.S. shipment numbers overseas. “We know that the U.K., Germany and France are Apple’s largest markets behind the U.S., and they are all part of the international iPad rollout,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Murphy.
More Than Hardware
Morgan Stanley predicted last month that Apple will end up shipping six million iPads in 2010 and seven million over the first 12 months, based on the financial firm’s recent survey of 2,500 consumers. The proprietary survey’s results point to strong consumer interest in the iPad, with 4.6 percent of respondents indicating extreme interest and 16.4 percent somewhat interested in purchasing the new device.
“The consensus forecast of four to five million iPad units is too conservative, in our view,” said Morgan Stanley analysts Katy Huberty and Mathew Schneider. “We see potential upside to our estimates with the introduction of a broader array of apps and new distribution partners in the U.S. and international markets.”
Piper Jaffray analysts noted earlier this week that strong U.S. demand — tempered by supply constraints –…