Next iPad to be available in 3 to 4 months

PanARMENIAN.Net - Updates on the status of the next-generation iPad are becoming more frequent as the Asia-based supply chain gears up for production. That latest report says the next iPad will be available in three to four months.

Component manufacturers have already started delivering next-gen iPad parts to original equipment manufacturers, CNET reports citing Taipei-based Digitimes.

Chinese device manufacturing giant Foxconn will begin to produce the future iPads in January and "ramp up" production volume starting in February, Digitimes said, citing a report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times, which, in turn, cites Kevin Chang, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets.

The report goes on to claim that as manufacturers gear up for the new iPad, there will be a corresponding decline in production of the iPad 2--to between 4 million and 5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, the report said, citing sources.

Production of the newest iPad is expected to hit almost 10 million units in the first quarter of 2012, according to estimates.