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By Harry Newton
We all know that Cupertino-based firm Apple has established its major presence in the corporate world with the success of its hugely popular tablet device- the iPad. An analyst predicted that Apple will sell 33.7 million iPads this year. Talking to AppleInsider, Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said yesterday that when it comes to the corporate world, the iPad is "running far ahead of its tablet competition and it’s their game to lose."
Reitzes added that Apple is yet to establish an enterprise salesforce, but the iPad maker is "listening to enterprise customers." The report remarked that Forrester's research shows that corporate users are "buying devices and bringing them into work" in increasing numbers. Apple is the "winner in the consumerization of IT," said Reitzes. Forrester said that tablets can co-exist with smartphones and laptops, but it added that devices like the iPad would ultimately replace laptop.
Reitzes report added that Apple’s sales for this year will touch 33.7 million iPads and he gave Overweight rating on Apple stock, with a $450 price target. The estimates made by Reitzes are more or less in line with those of his colleagues like Caris & Co. analyst Robert Cihra, who predicted sales of 36 million iPads this year.
In October, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the iPad was "being grabbed out of our hands," despite the fact that the company had yet to push the iPad "real hard in business." "We've got a tiger by the tail here, and this is a new model of computing which we've already got tens of millions of people trained on with the iPhone, and that lends itself to lots of different aspects of life, both personal and business," he said.
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