By Katie Marsal
Published: 10:20 AM EST (07:20 AM PST)
Apple's overseas manufacturing partner Foxconn has not experienced any production problems in building the new iPad, due for release later this month, sources have reportedly told DigiTimes.
While the company
would not offer any official comment, anonymous people within the company said they should be able to ship between 600,000 and 700,000 units this month, and another million in April. The sources also indicated that is "unlikely" that Apple would change the launch window of the iPad.
The claims came in response to an analyst who, on Monday, alleged that iPad production had hit a
"manufacturing bottleneck" and would see its initial supply reduced to just 300,000. The analyst also said that the issues could limit the initial debut to the U.S. only, and could even delay the launch by a month. The issues were attributed to an "unspecified production problem."
The report follows a rumor from this week that the iPad is
on track for an alleged sale date of March 26. The 3G-enabled versions of the iPad, which sell for an
additional $130, will arrive a month later.
That same report suggested Apple store employees could begin receiving training on the new hardware starting March 10. It also stated that Apple intends to begin airing iPad commercials, which will emphasize the device's e-book capabilities, on TV starting March 15.
Apple is expected to face strong demand for the iPad at launch, with most on Wall Street predicting first-year sales of
between 1 million and 5 million.
