Apple's iPad is slated to become available in nine more countries around the world later this week. The gadget maker said Monday that buyers in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Singapore will be able to purchase all iPad models through Apple's retail stores and authorized resellers on Friday.

On May 28, the iPad became available in Western Europe's five biggest market -- France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom -- as well as in other countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan and Switzerland.

"I have not seen any public numbers on iPad sales for Europe, but anecdotal evidence showed a strong launch with sales favoring the 3G version over the Wi-Fi-only," said Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi. "Operators have been very keen to introduce iPad tariffs that offer quite a bit of flexibility -- from 250MB to 1GB downloads at prices that go from as little as £2 ($3) a day to £25 ($38) for 1GB in the U.K."

A 3.2 Million Prediction

On June 22 Apple said it had sold more than three million iPads during the iconic device's first 80 days of availability. In response to the announcement, analysts at Piper Jaffray said they view the iPad as "a long-term investable theme" as well as a reason to buy Apple shares. "We also believe investors are underappreciating the global opportunity of the iPad as the 'Mac for the masses,'" analysts Gene Munster, Michael Olson, and Andrew Murphy wrote in a research note.

Piper Jaffray currently forecasts that Apple will report sales of about 3.2 million iPads when the company announces financial results for the June-ended quarter on Tuesday. "Given the strong early sales trends announced by Apple, we are raising our calendar year 2010 iPad estimate from 6.2 million to 7.5 million," Munster, Olson and Murphy wrote. "And we are raising our calendar year 2011 iPad estimate from 8.2 million to 9 million."

Though consumers appear to have accounted for the lion's share of iPad purchases to date, analysts see the iPad and other ultra-mobile device (UMB) products gaining traction over time in selected enterprise roles. "There are many workers whose jobs could be greatly enhanced with a portable, larger-screen device but whose businesses have decided that the price and functionality of laptops is far above what these workers need to perform their jobs," said Dan Shey, practice director for enterprise at ABI Research.

Enterprise Potential

One limitation for UMDs is their lack of processing power for running multiple applications, Shey observed. "But as these devices find adoption 'down market,' limited use to only a few applications is valuable to the business because it can help IT managers control UMD use," Shey said.

Laptops are widely expected to continue to be viewed as the best platform for word, spreadsheet and presentation productivity applications. Still, Shey believes the iPad and other UMDs offer distinct advantages due to their larger screens, instant-on capabilities, and longer battery life.

"The instant-on feature of UMDs is a powerful capability for the business customer, and cloud services fill the limitations of UMDs for content storage, device security, and limited application functionality," Shey said.

Shey also predicts that UMDs will gradually become the mobile computing device companion for business customers. "While different occupational factors will drive this choice, the lighter weight of UMDs will always create pause for the mobile employee choosing between a laptop and a UMD," Shey said.

Forrester Research thinks the PC market as a whole will continue to grow without the iPad or rival tablets necessarily having to cannibalize laptop sales. "Growth will come from new form factors like tablets, but laptop sales will increase steadily also," said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

x

More in Apple Info:

With iOS 4.1 Out, Apple Hastily Calls Press Conference... Read More >