If Apple (AAPL) does come close to selling 10 million iPad minis in the fourth quarter of 2012, it could push total iPad sales up to the 30 million mark for the holiday season. As AppleInsider writes, RBC Capital analyst Amit Daryanani has projected that Apple will sell 21.6 million 9.7-inch iPad models and 8 million 7.85-inch iPad models over the fourth quarter of 2012, meaning total iPad sales for Q4 would hit 29.6 million. Daryanani says that launching the iPad mini would provide Apple with a “$2-billion net benefit,” which obviously gives Apple a pretty strong incentive to release a smaller version of its popular tablet.
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