Apple sold up to 2.6 million iPad 2s in its first month, according to upstream touch panel suppliers quoted by Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes.

The report suggests Apple could have sold more if it had not been constrained by the supply of cover lenses for touch-panel modules.

The same unnamed sources gave Digitimes a “conservative” estimate of about 4.3 million iPad 2s sold per month for the rest of the year if suppliers can keep up.

And then, interestingly, the report goes on to say: “Taiwan-based TPK Touch Solutions and G-Tech Optoelectronics are eagerly expanding their capacities for cover lenses currently.” Other Taiwanese suppliers, like HannStar Display, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), and Wintek, are also reportedly planning to increase cover lens output.

 

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According to iSuppli, supplies of the iPad 2’s touch-screen overlay glass is one of five critical components that may have been affected by the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake. ISuppli speculates the overlay is currently supplied by Asahi Glass.

Apple hasn’t released official figures on iPad 2 sales, but is expected to do so during its Q2 earnings call scheduled for April 20. In a pre-earthquake report, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted that Apple will reach sales of 1 million iPad 2s before the 28 days it took the first-generation iPad. During its first sales weekend, the wait time for an iPad 2 went up to five weeks. The tablet also reportedly sold out within a day of its overseas launch.