Analyst bets reputation on Apple iPad sales

Takes three million punt at 11/4

Analyst Charlie Wolf of Needham & Company reckons Apple will sell two million iPads in 2010. He predicts the firm will shift another six million units during 2011.

Wolf said, however, that recent market analysis indicated that half the sales will come at the expense of the iPod Touch, since most people see the iPad as a bigger version of the iPod Touch.

In the note, Wolf pointed out the fact that demand for iPods and iPhones got a boost only when Apple launched a ‘catalyst’ for each product. The popularity and demand for Apple’s iPod music device picked up when Apple opened the iTunes Music Store in 2003.

The iPhone saw meteoric rise in sales kick in after the introduction of the online shop offering iPhone apps.

Considering the hype, Wolf's idea of throwing a dart at a board to number the iPad's likely sales is a bit hit and miss.

If he were to have a guess at more than two million he'd get odds of 11/4 at Paddy Power.

But then, if I had a global audience of billions hanging off my every word and I was trying to flog a bit of plastic tat, total sales of two million over the first year would feel a bit crap.

But then again, the iPad is, inevitably, a bit crap.