Report: new iPad mini in Q3, full-size iPad sales down
updated 10:02 am EDT, Mon March 18, 2013
Claims 2013 estimates for full-sized iPads almost cut in half
Apple is preparing to launch a second-generation iPad mini in the third quarter of the year, and is also at work on the fifth-generation 9.7-inch iPad, claims CNYes. The site doesn't mention many other details about the tablets, except that the new Mini is expected to have a Retina display, and that the fifth-gen iPad should have a redesigned aluminum alloy chassis similar to the Mini's, with a thinner bezel and lighter weight.
Some potentially more significant claims are that Apple is forecasting 55 million Mini shipments in CY2013, but drastically reducing its target for full-sized iPads from 60 million to 33 million. The company was allegedly aiming at 100 million iPads overall at one point, but has now scaled back to 88 million. CNYes' report may be partly backed by figures from the NPD Group, which indicated that full-sized iPad sales "collapsed" in January. CNYes suggests that Mini shipments have been relatively consistent since the tablet debuted in November.
The site's claims about the redesign of the 9.7-inch iPad are consistent with other rumors, but in terms of shipping dates, iMore recently pointed to the possibility of an April launch window for new iPads. That would make for an extremely rapid turnaround, and some other reports have pointed to new iPads coming later in the year.
