Forrester: iPad Doesn't Behave Like Other Consumer Devices

Before the launch of the iPad — you know, that magical and revolutionary tablet device from Apple? Before it released onto the world, there were plenty of analysts and forecast companies out there projecting their initial estimates on how many tablets Apple would sell out of the gate, and in the future. Numbers ranged from the hundreds of thousands, to the high millions, and now that Apple has come out and declared that they've sold 3.27 million units worldwide, some of those companies are coming out and clarifying their positions. Forrester is doing just that.

In the company's first projection, Forrester declared that the iPad would sell upwards of 3.5 million to US-based consumers in 2010, and 8.4 million by 2011. By 2015, there would be 59 million consumers out there using Apple's shiny gadget. One thing to note here, though: as you can see, Forrester projected these numbers for US-based consumers, not the worldwide market. On top of that, Apple is also including enterprise-based sales, while Forrester did not include that in their projections, either. All this does is add some cushioning to Forrester's projections, but it can't be ignored, either.

However, with all of that in mind, the company is now saying that their initial estimates were going to be conservative, to say the least. Basically, they are planning on publishing an update before the end of the year, but only after they get more data to reference the supply side, along with more consumer data. Below, you'll find data that Forrester pulled from their own surveys, of nearly 4,000 individuals. It's worth the read. And, we do have to admit that Apple blew away the estimates, and they're still going strong. Now, as long as LG can get supply to meet demand, Apple will just continue on their warpath.

"Awareness of the iPad is incredibly high. In our June survey, only 5% of US online consumers claimed that they had never heard of the Apple iPad before the survey. We asked the same question of consumers in a May survey (also of 4,000 US online consumers), and 17% said they'd never heard of the iPad. For context, three years after the Amazon Kindle's release (another entirely new type of product), 25% of US online consumers in the same survey said they'd never heard of a Kindle."Nearly 10 million US consumers say they own or intend to buy an iPad. In our June survey, 1.3%, or 2.5 million, US online consumers reported already owning an Apple iPad, and an additional 3.8% (7.4 million) say they intend to buy one. (No time frame was specified in the survey question.)"

[via Forrester Blog]