Apple building 10 million iSlate tablets in its first year?
Google's Chinese contingent seems to think so
Former president of Google China, Kai Fu Lee, has been blogging about a rumour he heard from a "knowledgeable friend" that Apple is planning on ordering 10 million iSlate tablets in the (unconfirmed) device's first year.
As optimistic as that figure is, Lee was connected with Apple around ten years ago, and is undeniably clued in to the mobile and computing industries. And if you want to know what an electronics manufacturer is doing, there's no better method than scouring the Chinese factories.
Even if Apple is planning a quarter of the amount stated by Lee, it still suggests Steve Jobs and co. believe they've got something massive looming on the horizon. It's a rumour that also points toward a wallet friendly price tag, as a $1,000 plus device isn't likely to push much over a million units in 12 months.
He also teased in a later blog post that Apple could be looking to shave that price tag further by once again teaming up with network operators. The exciting part about that, if it's true, is that the iSlate will feature cellular data connectivity after all.
