Prototypes of a new, smaller iPad have been delivered to Apple for verification and could enter production in the third quarter, a report has claimed.
Last month, reports that a smaller iPad was being tested emerged and Digitimes also reported late last year that an iPad with a 7.85" display would hit the market at some stage in 2012.
In the most recent report, Digitimes claims that sources think that new, smaller device would go on sale for between $249 and $299 in order to compete with Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire. Production would begin in Q3 which would make sense if Apple anticipated another pre-Christmas battle with Amazon.
However, a separate report from the same outlet published this week suggests that Apple has another low-cost option coming - an 8Gb iPad 2, which it will announce next week.
The 8Gb iPad 2 model is expected to cost between $349 and $399, Digitimes believes.
IDG News Service