ChinaTimes: Apple said to have ordered 65 million 264PPI Retina displays from LG and Samsung for iPad 3

Jake Smith | Feb 13 2012 - 8:00 pm PT

Apple iPad 3 rumors indicate a March 7 announcement with a 2,048-by-1, 536-pixel Retina display, quad-core A6 processor, improved cameras, and now LTE chip. The over-all design of the tablet will remain the same, according to the consensus, but the big new feature will obviously be the new Retina display. Rumors also indicate LG and Samsung are manufacturing the display. ChinaTimes said in a new report this evening that Apple ordered a whopping 65 million 264PPI Retina displays from both LG and Samsung. Both have reportedly already begun production, as well. It is not clear if this number includes orders from Sharp, who is rumored to be building displays from the iPad 3.

For comparison, Apple ordered 40 million displays for the iPad 2. Today’s report indicates a substantial 60 percent to 70 percent increase over iPad 2. If these reports are true, Apple is thinking big for its new tablet.

The iPad 2 is currently the world’s hottest tablet due to selling 15.4 million during the holiday quarter. With a big feature like the Retina display, Apple could potentially blow these numbers out of the water. China, and other emerging markets, could contribute to the influx of sales.

So, when can you get your hands on one?

There are numerous reports that the iPad 3 will be announced during the first week of March. The iPad 3 would then ship shortly after, because it took a little over a week last year.

Apple will continue to compete with new tablets from Samsung, MotoGoogle, and Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire; although, “compete” might be too strong a word with its 10-inch Retina display.