Consumer demand for Apple iPad still strong

The Apple iPad has sold more than 3 million units since its release more than three months ago, and is expected to see high consumer demand throughout the rest of summer.

There was initial concern that demand would drop after the first three months of availability, but that won’t be a problem, according to a new survey from America’s Research Group.

Out of 1,000 people recently surveyed, around 8.4 percent said they own an iPad – and 6.1 percent said they plan to purchase one.

Every Apple product launch is met with a high level of media and consumer interest, but the iPad is still selling more units than predicted.  The iPad has given birth to an entirely new tablet device market, and now there are numerous companies working to release rival products.

After Apple topped the 3 million sales mark last month, Kaufman Bros. Analyst Shaw Ku predicted Apple will sell around 9.7 million iPads in 2010.

Apple’s iPhone 4 is receiving strong criticism from the consumer industry – due to an antenna problem that is fixed with a protective casing.. The iPad has had a noticeably smaller amount of complaints from reviewers and consumers. 

I’m most interested to see how Apple promotes the iPad during crucial back-to-school promotions and prior to the Christmas shopping rush.  The Cupertino-based company will have to deal with competition from virtually every other PC manufacturer, along with smaller, lesser known companies that also want to test the market.

Prior to its launch three months ago, it was unknown how high demand would be for the highly hyped tablet device. If you want to read our take on the iPad, check out our hands on impressions here.