Apple May Ship 40M Next-Gen iPads in 2011

Today DigiTimes has reported new numbers on Apple's sales, which reveal that the company has currently from 300,000 to 400,000 next-gen iPads available.  It is also expected that in the Q1 of 2011 Apple will ship 6-6.5 million iPads, with approaching to 40 million for the 2011 in general.

It was reported that in January and February Apple ordered 1.7-2 million iPads, and 2 more million units will be shipped in March.

The publication cites industry sources, which said that in January Apple had from 1 to 1,5 million iPads in the channel.

"Apple is already set to phase out the first-generation iPad and let iPad 2 take its place".

Another DigiTimes' publication reported that the suppliers of gallium arsenide power amplifiers, including Skyworks Solutions and TriQuint Semiconductor, will presumably benefit from the launch of iPad 2. Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Company and Visual Photonics Epitaxy Company of Taiwan were also listed as GaAs foundry suppliers for the next-gen iPad.

Previously we revealed that more than 60% of all produced iPads in February were 3G-capable, and Apple is expected to unveil three versions of iPad 2 today: a GSM/UMTS version, a CDMA/EVDO version and Wi-Fi-only model.