Rumors about an upcoming iPad being made of carbon fiber have been swirling lately, but a new report may have some of the first solid information about the iPad 2. According to sources speaking to Digitimes, three parts suppliers have been chosen by Apple to contribute to the new tablet device: Ibiden (Japan), Tripod Technology (Taiwan), and TTM Technologies (U.S./China). The report says that four more suppliers will be revealed when shipments of the device ramp up in February 2011. A full launch of the iPad 2 is expected in the first quarter of 2011.
The iPad 2 rumors don't stop there, though, as analyst Brian Blair is predicting that Apple will be slowing sales of its 3G iPad over the next two months in order to ramp up production of a new "World iPad." This new tablet would contain both CDMA and GSM radios for use all around the world. In addition to a global radio, Blair believes that the next gen iPad will be thinner, made out of a unibody construction similar to Apple's MacBook line, and a front-facing camera, all of which we've heard rumors of before.
There's not a lot to be said about the parts suppliers, as the real meat of this rumor is in the supposed launch window of Q1 2011. A lot of people are expecting the iPad 2 sometime in the first quarter of next year, but no one has been able to nail down anything more specific than that. I wouldn't be surprised to see it land later in the quarter, since the original iPad launch at the beginning of April this year. The other rumors seem to make sense, as a thinner model is pretty much expected, as is a front-facing camera considering that Apple has been going all in with Facetime lately. As we all know by know, though, it can be tough to predict what Apple is going to do when it comes to new products, so don't take any word as gospel just yet.
Via BGR, All Things D, Digitimes
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