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More 'Mini iPad' Rumors Emerge

Reports of a smaller iPad have emerged again, this time on a Chinese website.

April 16, 2012

Reports of a smaller iPad have emerged again, this time on a Chinese website.

As reported (and translated) by Kotaku, Chinese Web portal NetEase claims that a "mini iPad" will be released later this year to go up against Windows 8-based tablets.

The blog says the smaller Apple tablet could range in price from $249 to $299, with 6 million devices ready to go at launch.

Foxconn and Pegatron are reportedly making the mini iPad. As Kotaku pointed out, "Pegatron was at one point a subsidiary of Asustek, who are currently working with Google on the next line of Android tablets."

Today's report comes shortly after Daring Fireball writer and Apple aficionado John Gruber said that Cupertino currently . Speaking on The Talk Show tech podcast, Gruber told co-host Dan Benjamin that "numerous" people have told him that Apple has been "noodling with" the size of the iPad, which currently has a 9.7-inch screen.

Last month, un unnamed Samsung official also that Apple is planning to launch a smaller iPad with a 7.85-inch screen by the end of the year.

Rumors about a smaller iPad have been circulating since before the March launch of the new iPad, which retained its 9.7-inch size. Back in December, there were reports that Apple had purchased 7.85-inch panels from LG Display and AU Optronics. Then in February the Wall Street Journal claimed to have a source who confirmed that Apple was testing the new, smaller screen line of tablets.

The late Steve Jobs has of a smaller tablet, but in this post-Jobs era, is a smaller iPad necessary to compete against the growing crop of 7-inch tablets? A recent report from Gartner said that Apple will . About 61.4 percent of tablet purchases this year will likely be for the Apple iPad, while Android tablets will probably make up 31.9 percent of tablet sales in 2012, the firm estimated.

Apple has made no announcements. At this point, the company is still rolling out its third-generation tablet. The new iPad is scheduled to be released this Friday.

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