New evidence hints at a smaller iPad to be released later this year.

Over the last couple of weeks, momentum regarding a smaller iPad that is supposedly to be announced, later this year has been picking up. Though this goes against what former Apple CEO and co-founder, the late Steve Jobs believed in, the news of a 7-inch tablet does not seem to stop. The latest bit of information regarding the fourth generation tablet, which is a 7-inch tablet comes from a document by Samsung Securities.

As per a report by Pocket-lint, the document from Samsung Securities states, “Following the success of its iPad 1 and iPad 2, which have together achieved sales of 55 million units, Apple plans in 1Q12 to launch the iPad 3 and in 3Q12 a new 7-inch product temporarily referred to as the iPad mini. The company is reportedly aiming to sell more than 100 million iPads in 2012, and plans to use higher-resolution IPS panels in the iPad 3.”

The report also goes on to mention, “The chances are that the Samsung employee who knocked together the document may be just paying note to the iPad mini rumours of the past - even though the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at the end of 2010 that 7-inches for tablets was "too small" and that Apple "believes 10-inch screen is minimum necessary.”

The rumours surrounding the launch of a smaller iPad gathered fuel last month when it was reported that Apple would be launching a 7-inch tablet to take on the likes of the Kindle Fire, which is cannibalizing Apple’s market. The latest bit of information came from Digitimes in which they state that industry sources have informed them that the production of a 7.85-inch iPad is scheduled to begin by the third quarter of 2012. The website stated, “The planned launch of the 7.85-inch iPad is apparently to take on Amazon's US $199 7-inch Kindle Fire as well as a comparable model from Barnes & Noble, although Apple already took up nearly a 60% share of the tablet PC market in 2011, indicated the sources. The price of the 7.85-inch iPad is likely to be set at US$249-299”

Let us know your thoughts on a smaller sized iPad in the comments below and do you think that the brand will in fact release a tablet other than the present size that is used with the current generation tablet.