Apple to slash iPad Mini shipments, claims report

Apple's iPad Mini.

(Credit: CNET)

Apple will reportedly trim iPad Mini shipments for the next quarter, say the folks at DigiTimes.

Citing industry sources who provide parts for the tablet," DigiTimes claims that iPad Mini shipments for the second quarter will fall to between 10 and 12 million units. The cut may be as high as 20 percent in April and then decline slightly throughout the rest of the quarter, the sources said.

DigiTimes' sources further claim that Apple recently adjusted this year's shipment estimates for the iPad and iPad Mini to 33 million and 55 million, respectively.

If the claims are true, and that's a big if given DigiTimes' hit-and-miss track record, why would Apple cut shipments of its most popular tablet?

The sources offered two possible explanations.

Apple could be prepping the next-generation iPad Mini for launch in the third quarter. In January, KGI Securites analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who's usually on the money, projected a third-quarter release for both the iPad Mini 2 and the iPad 5. Companies typically cut shipments of an existing product in advance of a new model.

But the s... [Read more]