Accumulated inventory for the upcoming new-generation iPad model is expected to reach about two million units by the end of December as related components started being supplied in October, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Since Apple demands that the new iPad model will need to be thinner than the iPad 2, while raising the machine's screen resolution to 2048 by 1536, upstream component makers have been working aggressively to adjust the device's LED and panel module designs to satisfy these demands, but the work has affected the launch schedule of the new tablet PC.

Apple is currently giving two tablet PC projects codenamed J1 and J2 to its upstream partners for development. The sources revealed that the major differences of the new tablet PCs compared to the previous model are their size, specifications and technologies. Since the new tablet PCs have a higher resolution, Apple has demanded the design of the light source to be changed from a single LED light bar to two LED light bars on the left and right sides of the machine, but since the method of adopting two LED light bars has created difficulty in shrinking the machine's thickness, some vendors have come out with designs that only adopt one light bar, but are packing two LED chips into one package.

The sources pointed out that the J2 project seems to be an upgrade version of the J1 and although Apple has not yet decided which project will be used for the final launch, Apple is likely to make the final decision based on its needs. As for the upstream side, the component suppliers have already conducted pilot production and prepared for mass production.

Since the new iPad's component specifications are not far off from those of iPad 2, the sources believe that the new iPad model will simply be an upgrade of iPad 2.

As for Apple's next generation smartphone, the sources also revealed that they have already started proofing and are set to start production in June of 2012.

Source:digitimes