Digitimes: Apple to begin producing 7.85-inch iPads in Q2 2012
Digitimes has published an interesting report this evening, saying Apple will begin the production of a 7.85-inch iPad in Q2 2012. Apple will reportedly begin selling the smaller iPads prior to Q4 2012 …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second run at a smaller-iPad rumor in the corpus: back in August 2010, PC World reported a 7-inch iPad arriving by Christmas — a launch that never happened. Now DigiTimes' supply-chain sources put a 7.85-inch model into production in Q2 2012, with sales reportedly starting before Q4 2012.
The claim lands alongside other December 2011 signals: replacement iPad 3 parts surfacing at reseller TVC-Mall, sources pointing to a new iPad at the end of Q1 2012, and Apple's confirmed dependence on low-cost Asian manufacturers for assembly. If the smaller panel is real, those same suppliers would be tooling a second form factor within months.
First-order effects
- Apple's Asian manufacturing partners would need to qualify a second iPad display size and assembly line through mid-2012, splitting component orders across two models ahead of the holiday season.
Second-order effects
- A sub-10-inch iPad would give Apple a second price point in its own lineup, forcing the positioning of the existing 9.7-inch model and squeezing the budget-tablet tier where rivals compete on cost.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the iPad stops being a single-form-factor product and becomes a size-segmented line refreshed annually — with supply-chain leaks like DigiTimes' functioning as the de facto preview channel for each new segment.
The trend: Tablets are moving from one-screen-fits-all products toward segmented size lines, with Asian supply-chain reporting setting the public timeline before Apple confirms anything.