Rumors about the iPad Mini continue to drop. Today The Wall Street Journal reports that suppliers in Asia have received orders from Apple to make more than 10 million units of the smaller tablets in the fourth quarter. » Apple Ordered More Than 10 Million iPad Minis

A Wall Street analyst told investors that suppliers are frustrated by Apple’s specifications for the 7.85-inch tablet. According to Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets, building the smaller iPad design to respond to rival 7-inch tablets powered by Google’s Android operating system is “no walk in the park for suppliers. However, the new iPad will “blow away what competitors are offering in this smaller form-factor tablet market,” he writes. » iPad Mini Suppliers “Frustrated” By Apple’s Product Requirements

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. » Apple Has Begun Mass Production Of The iPad Mini

A Taiwan-based publication Liberty Times (translated, via Macotakara) reported that LG and AU Optronics were certified to supply the 7.85-inch LCD panel for the iPad Mini. Furthermore, it goes on to claim that both manufacturers are working to ship the panels for production and for a release sometime during the latter half of 2012.

» Rumor: 7.85-inch LCD Panel Suppliers For The iPad Mini Ready To Ramp Up

Noted on The Next Web, during his Talk Show podcast with Dan Benjamin, DaringFireball John Gruber offered up some additional confirmation of the existence of a 7.85″ iPad. “Gruber reports that he has been told by “numerous” people that this size iPad is something Apple has been “noodling with”. ” In the podcast Benjamin asked Gruber if he thought a 7.85″ iPad would ever be released, Gruber responded “I don’t know. What I do know is that they have one in the lab…“. » Apple Does Have a 7.85″ iPad In Their Labs?