An Apple iPad launch in first quarter of next year is likely, Digitimes has reported, with a possible next-generation iPad 3 release as well as an update or re-launch of the iPad 2. This would make the iPad 3 release date not exact, but honing in ever closer to specifics. iPad rumors have been wildly thrown around over the past 6 months, and this time is no gaurantee, but it looks a lot more crystallized now that a new iPad seems to be in production.
Digitimes says that iPad component manufacturers in Asia are targeting a release date sometime in March or April, with their source saying that "OEM production of iPad 2 will remain high at 14-15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 but decline to 4-5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, paving the way for the launch of the new iPads."
So will the supposed iPad 3 become an iPad 2S, like the iPhone 5 became the iPhone 4S? It's possible, but it seems likely that with all of the new Apple TV offerings that are being talked about (both an Apple TV set top box and a new Apple TV set) that Apple would want to offer a new iPad 3 rather than double down on the past. New iPad features will also be the first to include Siri
