Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in an interview today, told AppleInsider that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has placed orders for the production of a total of 380,000 Sandy Bridge-based 11.6 and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models this month. Those who have been waiting for AAPL to include the Sandy Bridge chips don’t have to wait much longer, it’s only going to be a short wait. Ming-Chi Kuo’s rumors have proved to be accurate in the past and just may continue for the rumoured Macbook Air. Kuo also mentioned that about 55 percent (209,000) of those MacBook Airs will be of the 11.6-inch varieties, which has been proven to be slightly more popular than the 13.3-inch model due to its more attractive entry-level price points.

College students as well those looking for something a bit more powerful than an iPad have opted for 11.6 inch models, although the 13.3 sells just as well. Kuo’s analysis goes on to say that Apple plans to slow production of current MacBook Airs this month with about 80,000 units remaining, bringing the total number of MacBook Airs slated for production in June to 460,000. Apple is expected to ramp up production of the new Air as soon as the remaining last generation Macbooks sell out.

The new flash memory based Macbook Air launched just last October with the first ever 11.6-inch model and a lower $999 introductory price. Apple is going to be releasing Mac OS X Lion this summer, and when paired with the new rumored Macbook Air, will allow Apple to use the Macbook as a powerful marketing tool. The new Macbook Airs with the latest Mac OS X could be used by Apple as the introductory device to the entire Mac lineup, similar to how the iPod nano is now the intro device to the iPod lineup.

{via AppleInsider}