“Apple hasn’t officially confirmed plans to launch a smaller tablet, but the buzz is already building,” Lorraine Luk reports for The Wall Street Journal. “Some component suppliers to Apple in Asia say they have received orders to make more than 10 million units of the smaller tablets in the fourth quarter. That is roughly double the order that were placed for Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets in the same quarter, these suppliers say.”

Luk reports, “The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Asian component suppliers have already started producing the smaller 7.85-inch tablet. Apple hasn’t confirmed when the new device will be available, but AllThingsD, a sister publication of The Wall Street Journal, reported last month that Apple plans to unveil the smaller tablet later this month… ‘It makes sense for market leader Apple to extend its dominance in tablets with a smaller tablet,’ said Capital Securities analyst Diana Wu.”

“Analysts say the challenge for Apple will be to price the smaller tablet attractively in order for it to succeed,” Luk reports. “Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire HD sells for $199 and Google 7-inch Nexus 7 sells for $199. ‘iPad mini will be a big hit if Apple prices it below $300,’ said RBS analyst Wanli Wang.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Comparing prices of 7-inch ecosystem-challenged tablets with a 7.85-inch iPad is the errand of fools.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Fred Mertz" for the heads up.]