San Francisco (CA) – Club Cupertino is reportedly planning to release a shiny touch-screen tablet in October. According to the China Times, at least three major corporations have been asked to manufacture components for the $800 device – including Foxconn, Wintek and Dynapack.
“Apple will not follow the current market trend by producing netbooks with screens about 10.2 or 10.1 inches in diagonal length,” the Times asserted in an article translated by Mac Rumors. “Instead, Apple will produce screens with about 9.7 inches in diagonal length. Wintek will be the main manufacturer of the touch screen.”
The Times also named Foxconn as the primary manufacture of the “new netbook” due to the company’s previous involvement with Apple’s iPhone. In addition, the publication explained that Apple would avoid “direct competition” with Acer and Asus by targeting high-end consumers.
Meanwhile, Venture Beat has claimed that the above-mentioned tablet processor chip was designed by Apple’s internal chip team.
“Apple acquired PA Semi in April, 2008 for $278 million. It never said what it planned to do with the chip design firm, which featured star chip designers including Dan Dobberpuhl and Jim Keller,” wrote Dean Takahashi. “But we’ve learned that PA Semi’s team was split into two parts, one designing portable ARM-based processors for iPhones and iPods, and another designing a processor for the tablet device. It makes sense that Apple would divide the multi-talented team into an effort focused on the mobile space and something else focused on more substantial designs for tablet computers or netbooks.”
It should be noted that a recent report published by Piper Jaffray hypothesized that Apple was likely to release a 10-inch tablet with a touch screen interface. Piper Jaffray based its speculation on a number of factors, such as the acquisition of PA Semi and relevant patents awarded to Apple.
