Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty has released the results of a survey of 2,500 American consumers that found that 4.6% were "extremely interested" in buying an iPad and 16.4% were "somewhat interested."

Applying what Huberty calls a 77% discount rate on those forecasts (based on previous surveys of consumer interest in the iPhone and the iPod touch) and excluding non-Apple product owners (who are significantly less likely to buy an iPad), the survey suggests 4-5 million iPad sales in the U.S. over the first 12 months and 7-9 million worldwide, reports "Fortune" (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/04/14/ipad-survey-4-6-extremely-interes...). Among the survey's other findings:

° 20% or more of current Mac desktop, iPod Touch and iPhone owners are extremely interested in purchasing an [iPad] vs. 4.6% overall.

° iPad extreme interest skews towards males but the current iPhone installed base is about half males and females.

° The highest demand for the iPad comes from the 25-34 (29%) age group. Almost half (47%) of iPad users will have annual incomes $90K+, a number that's similar to the current iPhone installed base.