Foxconn will reportedly ship 20M iPads this quarter

DigiTimes is reporting that Foxconn is set to ship a reported 20 million iPads to Apple this quarter, which ends September 30th. If the report pans out, it would represent 60% sequential growth in shipments.

When Apple first unveiled the iPad 2, shipping times quickly rose to as high as 4-5 weeks due to overwhelming demand. It took until August 2nd for iPad 2 shipping times to hit 24 hours in Apple's online store.

Apple usually retains a tight control over inventory and if it has ordered 20 million iPads, it's likely Apple thinks it will sell at least 75% of those this quarter, which would be significantly higher than the 9.25 million iPads sold last quarter. Also, a fourth-quarter order of this size suggests optimism for sales during the all-important Q1, Apple's holiday quarter, which runs from October 1 to December 31st.