Rumor: 7-inch ‘iPad mini’ launching in Q3

A 7-inch iPad has been in the rumor-mill for quite awhile, but has yet to see the light of day. Many have said Apple will never choose to go with a 7-inch display and will continue to opt with its 10-inch iPad — which is currently the top selling tablet. However, many reports indicate a 7-inch (or 8-inch) version of the iPad will launch later this year.

OLED-Display says it has obtained a leaked document from Samsung, dated from December 2011. According the document, Apple will launch a 7-inch ‘iPad mini’ in Q3 of this year…

In the document, analyst JungHoon Chang said Apple will launch a new 10-inch iPad in early 2012 and “a new 7-inch product temporarily referred to as the iPad mini” in Q3 of 2012. Chang’s first prediction will be announced this coming week at an event held by Apple in San Francisco, California.

Chang goes on to say Apple may decide to include flexible display panels into the ‘iPad mini’. For Samsung’s flexible display to land on the iPad 3, it would depend on if Samsung could produce enough high quality displays to meet Apple’s demand needs. The analyst also confirmed that the iPad 3 will feature “higher-resolution IPS panels”

Samsung currently uses some of its flexible display technologies in its popular Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet.

Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs said in an earnings call a few years ago that Apple would never develop a 7-inch iPad. Personally I don’t think its up Apple’s alley either, but many analysts seem to think so.

Would it make sense for Apple to launch an ‘iPad mini’ to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire?

[AppleInsider]