Apple Tablet Maker Identified: Tech Rumor

TAIPEI, Taiwan (TheStreet -- Electronics manufacturer Foxconn is building Apple's (AAPL) eagerly anticipated Tablet device, according to a report on the DigiTimes Web site.

Citing unnamed market sources, DigiTimes says that Foxconn will deliver the device in the first quarter of 2010. Initial shipments will be in the 300,000 to 400,000 range, it added.

The Tablet is described as having a 10.6-inch display, and the sources speculated that these could come from Foxconn subsidiary Innolux Display. Citing its contacts, DigiTimes said that the Tablet will focus more on e-book features than music.

A manufacturing deal between Foxconn and Apple would not be completely out of the blue. Foxconn, which is the trade name of Hon Hai Precision, is already an Apple partner and is the world's largest contract manufacturer for cell phones and other electronic components.

The Taiwan Economic News Web site recently reported that a number Taiwanese firms are supplying components for the Tablet, and said that the device will debut in February 2010.

Futuristic Tablet devices, which are small, portable, computers have been generating plenty of buzz this year, and great things are expected from Apple's offering. Whether the Apple device emulates the success of the iPhone, however, remains to be seen.

Notable by its absence from Apple's recent Keynote event in San Francisco, the Tablet was one of the summer's most-discussed technologies. The blogosphere has been rife with rumors about possible features, although Apple, true to form, is playing its cards close to its chest.

Neither Apple nor Foxconn has yet responded to TheStreet's request for comment on this story.