14 DAY TRIAL // A new version of the full-size iPad is scheduled to enter production in the July-August timeframe, according to supply chain sources located in Taiwan.
Cited by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, the sources in question revealed that “Volume production of a new-generation 9.7-inch iPad will begin in July-August.
The same people reportedly said that “a second-generation iPad mini may see its volume production postponed from September to November.”
The iPad 5, as the media calls it, is expected to sport a thin-film-type (TFT) touch panel which will reduce its heft by as much as 20-30%, the sources said.
The chassis will be redesigned. “[It] will adopt a slim bezel design to increase the display area,” the report says. The sources added that the tablet’s industrial design would undergo modifications as well.
Ever since the introduction of the iPad mini last fall, the consensus has been that Apple will apply the same design on the bigger iPads. All the chatter in Taiwan supports these rumors.
As noted by the sources, Apple reportedly wants to avoid cannibalization from a second-generation iPad mini, a new iteration of the diminutive tablet computer also scheduled to launch this year.
Market watchers say the iPad mini 2 will be slightly delayed “because 9.7-inch iPad sales were seriously impacted by iPad mini in 2012, and so to avoid the situation from happening again, Apple has turned its product focus for 2013 to the new 9.7-inch iPad.”
Other analysts, however, blame the delay on issues in the supply chain, such as the assemblers’ inability “to meet the mass-production schedule.”
According to previous reports from Taiwan, Pegatron will be assembling more of Apple’s tablets this time around, as Apple and Foxconn are reducing their reliance on one another.