iPad 3 launch early 2012 - report

Apple will ramp up iPad 3 production from October with an eye to an early 2012 launch, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"Suppliers will ramp up production and try to improve the yield rate for the new iPad in the fourth quarter before its official launch in early 2012," a source at a iPad component supplier told WSJ.

Apple and iPad assembly company Hon Hai Precision Industry declined to comment when approached by WSJ.

The new iPad is expected to boost its display resolution up to 2048 x 1536. Apple's suppliers have apparently already shipped small quantities of components for sampling iPad 3. The orders detail a 9.7-inch screen device.