Apple to Sell 4X as Many Tablets as Samsung in 2013

and Samsung are

a combined total of 110 million tablets this year.

This impressive number indicates that both companies are poised to greatly increase their tablet shipments in 2013. That may be true, but Apple is still expected to trounce its South Korean competitor. A previous

will ship as many as 88 million iPads in 2013. That is 12 percent lower than the original estimate of 100 million units, but would still allow Apple to achieve a new world record for the most tablets shipped by one manufacturer. If the 110 million unit estimate is correct for combined shipments of Apple and Samsung tablets, that would mean that Samsung may only end up shipping 22 million units. Thus, Apple could ship four times as many units as its chief competitor. In 2012, 88 million units would have been an impossible goal to achieve. Now that the iPad Mini has been released, however, it is nearly within Apple's reach. During the

(which covers the January-March sales period), Apple sold 19.5 million iPads. If Apple maintains that sales level through the end of the year, it will have sold roughly 78 million iPads (19.5 million x 4 months = 78). iPad sales typically drop in the spring or summer quarter, so Apple's sales figures may not be sustainable. However, the company also tends to set new sales records during the December quarter, which should help balance things out (and possibly push Apple above 78 million units). If Apple sells 78 million units, the company will probably have shipped somewhere around 80 to 82 million iPads worldwide. At that rate, it would fall short of the 88 million estimate but still set a new record for Apple and the entire industry. In that case, Samsung would have to ship 30 to 32 million tablets in order to reach the 110 million (combined) estimate. At the rate Samsung currently sells tablets, that may not be possible. While specific sales figures are hard to come by, Samsung reportedly shipped

last summer. By comparison,

shipped 2.5 million tablets during the same sales period, which preceded the release of the second-generation Kindle Fire. Apple sold

iPads, but it is unknown how many additional (unsold) units may have been shipped.