12.9-Inch iPad Pro Launch Pushed Back to Q2 2015: Report

Apple's rumoured larger tablet, which is likely to be called the iPad Pro and sport a 12.9-inch liquid-crystal-display screen, might not launch early next year as has been reported recently, but may instead launch in Q2 2015, as per an analyst report.

According to KGI Securities' analyst Ming-Chi Kuo adds (via Apple Insider) that he expects the overall iPad shipments to drop steeply (54.5 percent quarter-over-quarter) in the first quarter of next year despite the release of new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in October.

Kuo suggests that due to limited component production and assembly time, the rumoured iPad Pro is not likely to enter mass production until the second quarter. Kuo adds that Apple is planning to include oxide LCD technology for the alleged iPad Pro for "quick response times and high colour saturation," which was recently used on the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display.

A report from September, in-line with Kuo's claims, had suggested that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will only launch sometime in the second quarter of 2015, probably after the anticipated Apple Watch launch.

The analyst also claimed that the current iPad models will see sharp drop in shipping, a fall of 54.5 percent quarter-over-quarter citing "lack of new applications, tablet market saturation and slow season". Kuo also predicts that 21 million iPad units will be shipped in Q4 2014 during the holiday season.

9to5mac has posted the note from Kuo, which reads, "We forecast iPad shipments will fall 54.5 percent QoQ to 9.8mn units in 1Q15, given a lack of new applications, tablet market saturation and slow season. We believe that, in a major shift, while Apple (US) used to be able to use new form factor designs to boost demand, it has failed to do so this time around. The lighter and thinner iPad Air 2 will face strong headwinds in increasing sales in 1Q15, we believe; we also hold that this means that iPad, along with the entire tablet market, is faced with structural challenges characterized by a lack of new applications and market saturation."