The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has started “mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad”.

Apple Inc.’s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. GOOG -0.63% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.56% that are offering smaller, less-expensive alternatives to the iPad.

They got this information from two sources who also said the smaller tablet will have a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display with a lower resolution compared with the latest iPad model that came out in March.

This matches an earlier report from an Japanese site saying that Foxconn in Brazil has begun production on the forthcoming “iPad mini” and the rumor that Apple will send out invitations for an iPad Mini media event on October 10th.

Source [MacRumors]