We don't have to tell you, once again, just how many speculations have been going around the Internet regarding the future Apple Internet tablet, the famous iSlate. There have been numerous rumors regarding whether such a device even existed, whether we were talking about a 7-inch or a 10-inch tablet, and countless more.

So, now we'll add another one to the collection, this time coming from analyst Matt Thornton at AVI Securities, who, according to CNET, claimed that the future Internet-oriented device by Apple is in “full production” as we speak. This piece of information apparently comes from a trusted source within one of the companies actually manufacturing components for the respective tablets, some of which were forced to push production a bit into early 2010 in order to accustom to Apple's demands.

Furthermore, it seems that the company from Cupertino also strained a bit the various component suppliers on the Chinese and Taiwanese markets, absorbing a large number of components initially targeting some pretty different segments, such as netbooks and CULV notebooks, for example (including NAND flash modules and 10-inch LCD displays).

Another interesting piece of information offered by the same note from AVI Securities is related to the volume of the annual shipments. "Production for the new Apple tablet is expected in Q1, with annual shipments perhaps reaching 10M units (perhaps in part explaining the significant increase in Apple NAND requirements)," the note said.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether there's actually that big a market for the future Apple tablet, especially since pricing details are yet pretty scarce, and, as far as we can see, 2010 will not exactly be a particularly fantastic year in terms of end customers' purchasing power. Sure, diehard Apple fans will flock to purchase this thing, but even their ranks are limited.


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