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Small Apple tablet chatter gets louder from suppliers

Leaks about a so-called "iPad-mini" continue to trickle out from Asia-based publications, which in turn are apparently getting their information from component manufacturers.

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.
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Brooke Crothers

Don't believe Apple will release a small tablet? Maybe not. But that hasn't stopped a constant trickle of reports citing Asia-based suppliers who are reportedly gearing up to make parts for the device in the third quarter of this year.

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AU Optronics and LG Display will supply the 7.85-inch screen for the Apple device, according to Taipei-based Economic Daily News--that report was cited in the Macotakara blog in a post dated March 6.

Other suppliers listed in the original Chinese-language article include: Radiant Opto-Electronics and Forhouse, which will supply the backlight module; Renesas Electronics, which will make driver ICs (integrated circuit); and Toshiba, which will deliver the NAND flash memory.

An Asia-based report in December also cited AU Optronics and LG as display suppliers.

And an analyst told CNET at that time that Apple was showing increasing interest in making a small tablet based on a 7.85-inch screen.