iPad 3 production starting before the end of the year?

In techradar

Analysts are reporting that Apple has scheduled production of the iPad 3 to begin before the year is out.

Jeffrey Fidacaro, analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, reports in a note that manufacturers have orders to build at least one million iPad 3s in the fourth quarter of the year.

This latest note echoes Fidacaro's colleague Christopher Caso's intel from late last week. He claims that "iPad 3 has now shown up on AAPL's production forecast for a late-4Q start. We believe 0.6 million to 1 million units are forecasted for 4Q production."

And just what can we expect from the iPad 3 when it launches? Check out our video below for a comprehensive rumour round-up:

Open season for analysts

Not one to be left out of the pontificating fun, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White threw in his two cents last week too:

"Our research is pointing to the unveiling of a lower priced iPad in the first few months of 2012 that is aimed at expanding the company's market potential by tapping into a more price sensitive consumer segment.

"Essentially, this 'iPad mini' will also fend off the recently announced Amazon Kindle Fire that addresses the low-end tablet market with a $199 price tag but could lead to bigger tablet ambitions from the online retailer in the future."

No sooner has Apple got one much-lusted-after iGadget out of the door do the rumours about the next one begin to surface. We'll be expecting to see an iPad 3 announcement made around March-April 2012.