According to an extrapolation of January data from the market research firm NPD, Apple might manage to sell above what most expected. The generally accepted forecast was around 9, 10 million units. Apple seems to be on the track of selling around 11, 12 million units in the March quarter.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told clients yesterday that he analyzed the sales data from January and his preliminary iPod sales estimate between 11 million and 12 million units.

This is only the first month of data; when the data for the second month will be available, analysts will be able to tell, with a higher confidence level, how much will Apple sell.

These findings place Apple sales above all initial expectations. Analyst Gene Munster himself predicted the 10.3 figure and Wall Street consensus estimates were 10.9 units. Experts predicted a strong fall in iPod sales after the shopping season ended in December. During this 3-month season, Apple managed to sell 21 million iPod units. This was the first time such a figure was reached.

At the Goldman Sachs 2007 Technology Investment Symposium Conference this Tuesday, Apple COO Tim Cook spoke about their forthcoming iPhone, the iPod, iTunes and about the company's evolution, in general.

The iPhone will be launched in June and it is expected to take some of the iPod's market, since it has iPod functionality among others. The COO says "it's still too early to tell" whether the iPhone will 'cannibalize' the iPod, and added that the company managed to sell a whopping 90 million units, so it looks like people are very into iPods.

We'll see what comes of iPod sales after the iPhone is launched. Stay posted for more information on the matter.