Apple may report sales of iPads at 20 million units for the second quarter of this year, if an analyst writing to investors is to be believed.

According to a report from AppleInsider, Needham & Company through analyst Charlie Wolf on Tuesday released a note to investors changing their previous forecast of how many iPads Apple sold during the second quarter of 2012.

The note admitted that the firm’s iPad sales estimate, which was released by the company to the April, for the second quarter was “hastily formulated”.

According to the revised figures in the recent note to clients, Apple is about to reveal that it has sold 20 million iPads in the recently-ended quarter.

AppleInsider managed to get a copy of the note to investors sent out by Needham & Co and analyst Charlie Wolf.

In the note, Wolf said that the enterprise and education sector has bought a lot of iPads in the recent quarter thus boosting sales of the tablet from the Cupertino, California-based company.

“In our view, it’s only a matter of time before iPad shipments exceed iPhone shipments. The iPad is invading the business market at a much faster pace than the iPhone. In addition, the iPad will launch in China on July 20th. This should provide a significant boost in sales now that Apple is providing Chinese languages and services on its iOS platform.”

As for the most successful iPad model for the quarter, Wolf predicts that it was the $399 16-gigabyte iPad 2.

If the analyst’s figures are to be believed, Apple has more than doubled its sales of iPads for the second quarter of 2012 when compared to its iPad sales in the same quarter of last year. Apple sold 9.25 million iPads in the second quarter of 2011.

Twenty million would also be Apple’s best iPad sales figure for a quarter as it easily tops the 15 million iPad sales for the last quarter of 2011. Needham & Co initially predicted sales of over 13 million iPads for the second quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the Apple iPad sales figures for the second quarter was not the only measure Wolf and the financial firm revised upwards.

Wolf, in the note to investors on Thursday, boosted the forecast for iPhone sales for the second quarter from 27 million to 28 million. “The assumption underlying our forecast of a sequential quarterly decline is that some customers have begun to postpone their purchases of an iPhone 4S in advance of a much widely publicized introduction of the new iPhone this fall,” he said.

Those waiting out for new models of iPads to come out need to know that the Apple tablet isn’t due for a refresh until first quarter of next year but there have been rumors that Apple is developing an iPad Mini.

Image from leondel on Flickr (CC)      

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .