Apple is bracing for shipments of their first 7.9-inch tablet to fall sharply as they enter the second financial quarter.
According to the Taiwan-based DigiTimes, sales of the iPad mini are expected to drop 20 to 30 percent. A strong reason for the sudden drop is due to the growing speculation of the second-generation iPad mini.
Apple has seen a year-to-year increase of overall iPad shipments by 84 percent, which equates to 17 million units.
While the numbers are positive, according to DigiTimes, Apple has cut iPad mini reserves to between 10 million and 12 million units during the second quarter, in addition to the 15 million compared to the first quarter.
Likely to be affected by the decision will be LG Display, the South Korean-based panel supplier. The report noted iPad and iPad mini panel shipments to decrease to 3.5 million for April, down five million this time last year. The panel shipments will dip lower to three million for May and June.
An Apple spokesperson has declined to comment.
Despite the alleged numbers, Apple is projecting, and hoping, to ship 55 million iPad mini devices during 2013.
Overall, the tablet market is expected to sell 254 million units during 2013, up 94 million from the 160 million units sold in 2012.
The iPad mini comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of internal storage variants with 512MB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with 2,592x1,944 pixels, front-facing camera with 1.2 megapixels, and the iOS 6 operating system. The tablet is available in black and white color options.
For more on the iPad mini, click here.
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