14 DAY TRIAL // A rumor out of China says that Foxconn’s hands are full and that it won’t be able to take any more iPad orders from Apple unless it stops working on at least one product line. Apple has reportedly acknowledged the situation and is ready to discontinue the iPad mini.
The reason is simple, according to sources in Taiwan. The company wants to deploy its rumored 12-inch iPad sometime in early 2015, and to do that it needs all hands on deck at Foxconn.
Cutting iPad mini production isn’t even seen as much of a compromise, since the tablets have started to sell very poorly in the face of competing devices as well as cannibalization from existing iPads and the large iPhone 6 Plus phablet.
Another reason is the preferability of larger displays everywhere. Apple likely doesn’t want to lag behind in the tablet sector, as it did in the smartphone space.
iPad Pro potentially just around the corner
Using parts that are common to all iPads, as well as new ones, Apple plans to deploy the new Pro tablet sometime in March next year, according to the Chinese report.
The first report to mention the 12.2-inch spec (as opposed to 12.9 inches, as previously rumored) came from Japan a couple of days ago and made quite a few waves in the tech blogosphere.
The sources cited there specifically said that “iPad Pro will have 12.2 inch LCD instead of 12.9 inch which is [what] many reports told.” More surprisingly, the same report said Apple would deploy a pro tablet that would look a lot like Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 when viewed from the front.
What about the 12-inch Retina MacBook Air?
According to the latest reports from China, that one’s still on track as well. Apple’s assemblers are said to be struggling with the ultra slim chassis, but the project is still a go. The new Mac was expected at one of Apple’s two consecutive fall events this year, but it failed to materialize.
Just yesterday we reported that Microsoft was giving Apple a run for its money in the marketing department by hiring Lenovo to sprinkle some advertising magic around its Windows operating system.
While we certainly like the MacBook Air just as much, Microsoft and Lenovo made a great case for their products, dwarfing Apple’s notebook in the eyes of the consumer. Apple hasn’t bothered to point out the flaws in its competitor’s products for years, and we wouldn’t mind seeing them throwing back some punches.