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Report: iPad 2 to ship next February

Apple hardware maker Foxconn has been notified that it should be ready to ship 400,000 to 600,000 units of Apple's next version of iPad in the next 100 days, according to a report.

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Reports have Apple aiming to begin shipping the next version of iPad as soon as February 2011.
Reports have Apple aiming to begin shipping the next version of iPad as soon as February. James Martin/CNET

The next version of iPad is reportedly expected to ship as soon as the end of February.

Component makers in Taiwan say Foxconn--a key maker of iPhones and iPads--has been notified that it should be ready to ship 400,000 to 600,000 units of the next version of iPad in the next 100 days, according to a DigiTimes report. Taiwan-based Foxconn reportedly declined to comment.

DigiTimes reported that Apple had originally expected to begin mass production of the unofficially dubbed iPad 2 in January, but Apple postponed that schedule because the device's firmware is still undergoing testing.

Apple representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The iPad 2 has been widely expected to come out in the first quarter of 2011 and feature a front-facing camera. Some analysts also expected Qualcomm will provide chips that allow the iPad to run on both CDMA and GSM networks, a so-called "world" iPad. The current 3G version is GSM only.

As my colleague Erica Ogg points out, a dual-mode iPad makes sense now that Apple offers the current iPad on both CDMA and GSM networks. While the 3G version AT&T sells has GSM chips inside, the Verizon version comes bundled with a wireless hot spot.