iPad Mini 2012 Release Confirmed As Display Manufacturers Are Finalized

Apple is one such company from which the rumour mill can never maintain distance. Word from Taiwan is that iPad Mini 2012 release has been confirmed as display manufacturers have been finalized. Production is set to begin very soon, and a worldwide release will follow suit in the last few months of 2012. We been hearing a lot about Apple’s 7.85-inch iPad since last year though many thought such a device will never materialize given how deceased CEO Steve Jobs hated 7-inch tablets. Now there’s a CEO with the reigns of Apple in his hands, and he just might go forward with the iPad Mini.

An article was published by TheLibertyTimes of Taiwan, in which this publication claims that Apple is going to release iPad Mini in the last few months of 2012. The legitimacy of their source can be questioned, but given the fact that these rumours just don’t seem to go away, one has to consider the possibility of an iPad Mini 2012 release. Surely we all know by now that until and unless official word is received from Apple, we can’t be too sure about such reports.

The entire report is based on one premise. Display manufacturers who claim to have received orders from Apple to start ramping up production for display units that’ll go in to the iPad Mini. LG and AU Optronics are the manufacturers in question here. It has also been said that these two manufacturers are speeding up production so that display units are ready to be shipped in either the third or fourth quarter of 2012. If this really is the case, then a release in the last few months of this year is highly likely.

Manufacturing the touch film sensor is in the domain of Nissha Printing. Whereas TPK Holdings and Chemi Innolux are two companies which will manufacture backlight modules. These companies will manufacture 4 million and 2 million units respectively. This number falls perfectly in line with an old rumour that Apple will initially produce only 6 million units of iPad Mini.

If everything pans out exactly this way, then there’s no doubt that an iPad Mini 2012 release is happening for sure. It is believed that Apple is producing this device to establish their presence in the mid-range tablet market which is currently being ruled by Amazon Kindle Fire. There is no confirmation regarding pricing of iPad Mini, however we expect the miniature iPad to be priced somewhere around the $200 – $250 mark.