CUPERTINO, Calif., May 20 (UPI) -- Apple said iPad production constraints that affected it last quarter have been "significantly improved" and availability of the in-demand tablet will improve.
Apple has ramped up iPad 2 production through retooling and conversion of more overseas production lines to address the supply issues experienced last quarter, Apple Insider reported Friday.
But analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee cautioned Apple is a long way from meeting its own goals for iPad 2 production.
"From our understanding, [Apple] still has a ways to hit the [second half] goal of 3-4 million units per month but getting closer," Wu said.
Previous estimates were that Apple could ship as many as 45 million iPad 2 units this year though predictions have dropped since Apple's last quarter fell sales fell short of expectations.
With the increased production, Wu has increased his estimates for iPad sales in the current, third fiscal quarter of 2011 from 5.9 million to 6.8 million.
