DigiTimes claimed on Friday that Apple is "likely" to launch a smaller iPad several months after the next-generation iPad (ipad related: dvd to ipad converter free), which is expected to arrive at the end of the first quarter.

Apple will allegedly purchase the 7.85-inch panels from LG Display and AU Optronics, with makers within the company's supply chain expected to begin production of the smaller iPad at the end of the second quarter of 2012.

Rumors of a 7-inch iPad were supposedly laid to rest when late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs proclaimed such a screen to be "too small to express the software." However, reports of the device were resurrected this fall after the announcement of Amazon's Kindle Fire, which some have touted as the first credible challenger to the iPad (ipad related: ipad video converter).

Ticonderoga securities analyst Brian White claimed in October that he had heard rumblings of a so-called "iPad mini" arriving next year (ipad related: play dvd on ipad), though he believed the device would be cheaper and not necessarily smaller. Also in October, DigiTimes reported that suppliers were gearing up to ship 7.85-inch screens to Apple.