Edible Apple

Digitimes reports that Apple has plans to not only upgrade the current iPad model, but to potentially launch iPads in 5.6-inch and 7-inch form factors, complete with OLED panels and as soon as the fourth quarter of 2010.

The report notes that Apple has already placed these new iPad orders with its Taiwan-based manufacturers and that the smaller form factors will “mainly target the e-book reader market, separating them from the 9.7-inch model, which mainly targets multimedia entertainment.”

Commenting on the rumors, Digitimes Research senior analyst Mingchi Kuo pointed out that the largest OLED maker, Samsung Electronics’, current OLED capacity is not even enough to supply the company’s own handset products; therefore, the capacity is unlikely to be enough to supply Apple’s new devices for the fourth quarter of 2010. Tight OLED capacity may ease in the second half of 2011, Kuo added.

While the iPad is great for reading books, there’s no denying that it’s a tad too hefty to really use for prolonged periods of reading. Still, coming out with 2 brand new form factors so soon after the original iPad launch doesn’t exactly seem like something Apple would do.