Ever since the first smaller than the Apple iPad tablet arrived there have been rumours that Apple would eventually at some point deliver a smaller version of their iOS tablet, with most of those rumours tagging the device as the iPad Mini, despite Steve Jobs saying Apple would never make a smaller version of their iPad. However, Steve has now gone and it appears that the iPad Mini is becoming a reality.

According to the guys over at Slash Gear, by way of Netease (Google translated), unnamed sources seem to have confirmed that Pegatron and Foxconn have both gained orders to begin making the so called Apple iPad Mini, which will sit somewhere between the iPhone and Apple iPad.

Furthermore, the report claims that orders for the Apple iPad Mini will be ready to start shipping as of the third quarter of 2012, although of course there is no real concrete conformation as to whether this information is correct or not, and obviously Apple isn’t going to be telling until they are ready to do so.

Also the guys are hearing that Apple could grab a slice of the smaller tablet market share with the Apple iPad Mini being offered at a price tag of between 249-bucks to 299-bucks, which of course isn’t as cheap as some popular Android tablets out there such as the Amazon Kindle Fire.

However, considering the popularity of the iPhone and Apple iPad, and anything Apple, no doubt if Apple does deliver the iPad Mini later this year it will be another big success for the company. So we’d like to ask our readers if a smaller Apple tablet became available would it appeal to you?