iTablet Gains OLED Display, Delayed Until End of 2010

If an unannounced product exists solely in the minds of speculative journalists and know-nothing analysts, can it be “delayed”? If so, then the fabled Apple tablet has just seen a setback to its non-existent launch date, pushing it to the second half of 2010.

The source? Component manufacturers for the iTablet, who, according to Digitimes, say that Apple has changed its mind on the product range (partway through production, it would seem) and decided to confuse customers with a split product launch.

Instead of the usual Apple strategy of launching one product, letting it run for a few years, and only then adding more lines (think iPod, which was on sale for two years before the Mini joined it, and iPhone, which is still the only iPhone), Digitimes’ sources claim that there will be two tablets at launch. One with a TFT screen will measure 10.6-inches and one with an OLED screen will measure 9.7-inches.

The sources have even worked out the prices of the tablets. Going on current prices of OLED screens and the percentage of the product budget they normally occupy, the price is estimated to be between $1,500 and $1,700 US. That’s not the sale price but the cost. Add a conservative 30% on top for Apple’s famously fat profit margins and you get to around $2,200. That’s almost as much as the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Read more: wired.com