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Asia suppliers chat up 12-inch Apple tablet, large iPhones: Report

Asia suppliers at a electronic components exhibition are talking up a 12-inch Apple tablet and large iPhones, according to a Chinese-language report.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
Brooke Crothers

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A plastics molding maker said a 12-inch Apple 'tablet' and large iPhone are in the works. Apple

Asia-based suppliers are chatting up a 12-inch Apple tablet as well as the oft-rumored larger iPhone, according to a Chinese-language report.

The online version of the China Business News (Yicai) includes a story dated Monday that cites a manager at Taiwan-based plastic mold maker as saying that Apple will launch a 12-inch "tablet."

The information was also confirmed by exhibitors at a China-based components exhibition, according to the news service BrightWire.

The sources said Apple has placed orders for millions of units of its "new devices" with Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) and Pegatron.

The same sources said that they are "almost sure" that Apple's next-generation phones will have 4.7- and 5.5-inch displays. The report also mentioned a new 4-inch phone.

"According to the plastic mold for iPhone 6 that the manager showed China Business News, the new model will be approximately 5.8mm thick, compared to 7.6mm for iPhone 5S," BrightWire said.

The mold making process for the new products will begin in late April or early May.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.