Apple will unveil a miniature iPad at an Oct. 23 invitation-only event, according to the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital.
The new report comes after a previous rumor that Apple would distribute invites for an event on Oct. 10 proved not to be true.
An iPad mini is expected to feature the 7-inch form factor made popular by the likes of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet and Samsung’s Galaxy tablets. These 7-inch models carry prices in the $200 range, which has proved popular with consumers.
According to IDC, Apple shipped 17 million iPads during the second quarter, up from 11.8 million units the previous quarter and well above its previous record of 15.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
But Apple wasn’t the only company to experience solid growth in the second quarter.
Four of the top five worldwide vendors saw their shipments increase year over year. Samsung experienced exceptional growth, and landed in second place with 2.4 million units shipped, up from 1.1 million units a year ago. Amazon rebounded from a sluggish first quarter to post shipments of 1.2 million units.
Overall, IDC reports that Apple controlled 61.5 percent of the worldwide media tablet market in the second quarter followed by Samsung’s distant second, which accounted for 7.3 percent of the global market.
