It looks like the Apple iPad will be getting a much miniature makeover sooner than we thought. According to new reports from DigiTimes – Apple will likely introduce a 7.85-inch iPad before the fourth quarter of 2012.
The release of an “iPad mini,” as many have dubbed such a device, would follow an early 2012 release of the iPad 3, which the supply chain sources said would indeed come by the end of the first quarter of 2012, as reports have suggested. The smaller form factor released later in the year is intended as a way to “cope with increasing market competition, including the 7-inch Kindle Fire,” according to DigiTimes’ sources. Former CEO Steve Jobs had previously expressed the belief that a 7-inch tablet was simply too small, owing to software development concerns, but DigiTimes says the Amazon tablet along with large-screen smartphones coming to market (like the Galaxy Note) have caused Apple to change its position on the matter.
