iPad 2 Release Date Said to be Late March, But Not Enough Units at First

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Despite previous rumors that said the next-gen iPad is going to be launched only at some point in summer we now know Apple has scheduled a March 2 event to reveal the iPad 2 to the world. We were expecting the tablet to come out at some point in late January or early February but that hasn’t happened.

Has Apple been waiting for CES and MWC to pass in order to see what it’s main competitors in the mobile market, Motorola, Samsung, LG, RIM, HP or HTC, have planned for 2011 when it comes to tablets? We’ve already seen the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the LG Optimus Pad, the BlackBerry PlayBook, the HP TouchPad or the HTC Flyer get announced ahead of the iPad 2 and it’s time to see what Apple has planned for 2011.

With just a few days to go until Apple unveils the new iOS tablet we already have various rumors and reports on the actual release date of the iPad 2 and the number of units available at launch. Digitimes says that Apple could have less iPad 2 units at launch than initially expected. The word on the street is that Apple will only have 300,000 to 400,000 units at launch instead the forecast 600,000 iPad 2 units. The report goes on to say that iPad 2 production has been affected by “low touch panel yields” and “an adjustment in specifications.”

That last bit certainly sounds pretty interesting as it would seem Apple decided to modify the characteristics of the next-gen tablet in the last hour. Does that mean Apple feels threatened in any way by any of the emerging hot tablets I mentioned above? We can’t verify any of this just yet since Apple won’t reveal such details to the masses.

As for iPad 2 release dates, while nothing is certain with a week to go until Apple’s execs take the stage to present the new device, various sources say the tablet will be launched at some point towards the end of March. It would appear that Apple has banned vacations for that specific period of time but we still need an actual launch date.

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