iPad 3 Launch Event in February, Says Asian Supplier

A new report from Japan claims Apple has scheduled a special event for early February to launch its next-generation iPad 3, while another, from Taiwan, says the company will continue to sell the iPad 2 at a cheaper price.

The sources cited by Japan’s Macotakara have been reliable in the past, so there is some reason to consider the accuracy of this report that claims there will be a special Apple event in February focused on the iPad 3 launch.

The Asian supplier, presumably a partner of Apple Inc., reportedly told the blog that since the factory workers would be on holiday around that time, Apple’s iPad 3 would be shipped around March.

The blog points out that Apple held its iPad 2 launch even in early March 2011 and then shipped the tablet in The States just a week later. Later that month, the product was shipped worldwide.

With the Japanese report out of the way, we’ll kindly point your attention to this Digitimes report stemming from Taiwan, where “supply chain makers” are reporting that “shipments of […] high-resolution panels began in the fourth quarter of 2011 and will exceed those of XGA panels used in iPad 2 in the second quarter of 2012.”

Contrary to previous reports, the sources say Apple has selected both LG Display and Sharp “as the suppliers of 9.7-inch QXGA (2,048 x 1,536) panels for use in a new version of the iPad.” The latest chatter in Taiwan earlier said that Sharp had been canned as a display supplier for the iPad 3.

Perhaps more interestingly, the same sources pointed out that shipment volumes of iPad 2 screens would fall from 48 million units in 2011 to around 25 million in 2012.

In other words, Apple plans to continue selling the iPad 2 at a discount, alongside the new iPad 3. This falls in line superbly with analyst reports saying the exact same thing.

And Apple does need a $299 entry-level for the iPad 2 if it wants to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire. Not that the iPad is in any danger of falling behind the trends, but why not grab as much of the market as possible, right?