Report: Apple Tablet Coming Soon, Made by Foxconn

So many reports have been circulating about this mysterious Apple Tablet that has been talked about for months. More and more sources seem to be jumping on the iTablet bandwagon. It’s kind of like technology’s Lock Ness Monster, if you think about it. At this point it would be an incredible disappointment to most readers if an Apple tablet did not actually show up.

The newest report from “market sources” is claiming that the iTablet (or iPad, as some are calling it) will start shipping in Q1 of 2010, and will be made by none other than Foxconn.

Foxconn, if you recall, is the company that manufactures the iPhone and was the center of an employee suicide due to the large amount of pressure he suffered from losing an iPhone prototype. It really comes as no surprise that Foxconn would be the frontrunner for the iTablet gig.

DigiTimes is reporting that there will be an initial shipment of 300,000-400,000. The tablet will have a 10.6″ display and will have a larger focus on eBooks than on music.

“The sources indicated they believe the tablet PC features will focus more on e-book functionality rather than music, and that based on Apple’s marketing strategy, long battery life, quick Internet connectivity and an easy-to-use user interface will be key features of the device.”

Long battery life? Focus on eBooks? This definitely will be covering new territory for Apple.

If Apple chooses to use the iPhone OS on the tablet, though, wouldn’t all that music functionality be built in anyway? Or will Apple cripple the tablet so that it doesn’t take away from iPod Touch/iPhone sales? Will this just be Apple’s idea of the Kindle?

So many unanswered questions, so little time. Loch Ness Monster, indeed!

Oh, and BTW – the report also mentions Hewlett-Packard is also looking into its own tablets in the spring of 2010, and coupled with Microsoft’s rumored tablet series coming out, definitely expect the competition to become intense. 2010, no doubt, will be the year of the tablet.