High hopes for iPad push Apple shares near $300

As was the case with the iPhone, Apple's iPad is setting the standards for this generation of tablet computers as competitors scramble to match the design and functions.

So far, no credible challengers have hit the market. Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer has promised Windows-based tablets, but so far you can find no solid details. Meanwhile, tablets dependent on Google Inc.'s Android system are starting to emerge, but they have smaller screens than the iPad's.

Inside the very first quarter it was offered, Apple offered 3.3 million iPads. That's about three times the number of iPhones offered inside very first full quarter the smart phones were on sale in 2007.

Rajesh Ghai, an analyst for ThinkEquity LLC, mentioned he believes Apple sold 5.7 million iPads within the most recent quarter, which ended in September. He stated that adds about $3 billion in revenue -- not bad for a product category that didn't exist before April. Analysts' estimates for iPad unit sales in 2011 are in flux, with those on the conservative end putting the variety around 20 million while a lot more bullish forecasters say it might be 50 million.

"Clearly the iPad proved to be a hit beyond Apple's wildest dreams," Ghai said in an interview.

A few other elements are bolstering investors' enthusiasm for Apple, which reports its quarterly outcomes on Monday. The Cupertino, Calif.-based organization is planning a big push in China, with 25 retail stores expected to open there by the end of next year.

There's also the new slate of iPod touch 4 accessorices, which Apple unveiled in September, in time for the profitable gadgets to make their way onto holiday shopping lists.

And investors may perhaps be choosing to believe increasingly loud buzz that Verizon Wireless will get its own version of the iPhone in 2011. From the U.S., the iPhone is only available on AT&T Inc.'s network, which is straining in some cities under the heavy volume of data consumed by iPhone users. Adding carrier partners could lure U.S. smart phone buyers who have been reluctant to switch to already-taxed AT&T.

Shares in Apple traded as high as $299.50 Tuesday before ending the day at $298.54, a gain of $3.18.

Apple's shares have climbed sharply and fairly steadily since the finish of the dot-com bust, from about $7 per share in early 2003 to nearly $169 in the summer of 2008. The stock dropped below $100 per share in late 2008 and early 2009 as investors worried about the health of CEO Steve Jobs, but it has been gaining since March 2009. Shares set all-time high records on a split-adjusted basis several times this year.