Analyst: iPad 3 Release Date Will Be February 2012

People have a lot of questions about the upcoming iPad 3 from Apple. The biggest are: "Should I wait for it? When is the release date? How much better is it compared to the iPad 2?" Now we may have an answer to one of those queries.

There were rumors that it would be available for Christmas 2011 but that obviously is not the case. Then some "insiders" were predicting a March or April 2012 release date. Now Citi analyst Richard Gardner says he knows when the iPad 3 will really be available: February 2012.

In a report filed today he claimed several inside sources have indicated that Apple will launch the 3rd generation iPad sometime in the month of February. Technology-related glitches may have delayed the release of the new tablet but, according to Gardner:

"There do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining [to releasing the iPad 3]."

Apple usually releases new versions of popular products one year apart. But they do occasionally shorten the time frame, as would be the case if the release date is in February (the iPad 2 was release in March of 2011). Apple is currently dominating the tablet computer market but is seeing strong new competition from the Amazon Kindle Fire and other new Android-based tablets like the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. They may be anxious to get their best product on the market ASAP.

We say: The best thing about a new iPad being released is that the older version iPads will be available at a deep discount. Cheaper tabs make us happy!

Learn some mo': iPad 3 is Coming in February