iPad 2 will launch in April, but iPad 3 rumours persist

Claims of a delay to iPad 2 denied - but with iPad 3 rumoured for September, will anyone buy it?

By Tim Edwards

LAST UPDATED 5:32 PM, FEBRUARY 23, 2011

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Claims that the launch of the iPad 2 has been delayed by two months have been hastily slapped down by Apple's favourite medium - an anonymous source.

Apple is hosting an event on March 2 at which it is expected to unveil the iPad upgrade. Last year, the first iPad went on sale in April - and it was assumed the same schedule would apply to the iPad 2.

That was until Yuanta Securities said yesterday in a note to investors that the launch date had slipped to June because Apple had changed the design, causing a "production bottleneck".

Apple, as always, refused to comment on the record. The company's preferred method of communication is usually via anonymous tips to the Wall Street Journal. But needs must, and with Apple shares sliding three per cent yesterday afternoon thanks to Yuanta's announcement, emergency measures were apparently taken and Reuters contacted.

The news agency duly reported last night that the iPad 2 would go on sale in April, quoting "a person familiar with the matter" - a formulation that readers of the WSJ will recognise.

However, it may not be enough to save the launch of the iPad 2, which is threatening to turn into a damp squib because of persistent rumours that it is really just a placeholder to keep Apple fanboys occupied until the main event, the iPad 3, is released in September.

The rumours were given further credence today by a report claiming that Apple has reduced the number of iPad 2 units it is planning to manufacture.

Digitimes says that Apple's production volume forecast for January-March is expected to drop from the original 400,000-600,000 units to a mere 300,000-400,000 units - just what you would expect from a company that is secretly planning to render its new product obsolete within the space of six months.

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