iPad 2 due this Christmas?

According to reports, deals and sightings coming out of Asia, Apple is working on a new iPad with a 7-inch touchscreen for launch in just a few months.

The current iPad screen measures up at 9.7-inches, so a 7-inch screen really would fit the view that iPad is just a large iPhone / iPod Touch.

The Chinese-language Economic Daily News has reported that several Taiwanese companies have won component contracts for iPad 2. It’s worth noting that the Economic Daily News has form, being one of the first publications that (correctly) reported Apple was making a tablet device while others claimed it would be a netbook. The iPad launch proved it right.

Chimei Innolux is reported to be bringing the 7-inch LCD screens to the party. This is said to use the same in-plane switching technology found in the original iPad. Touchscreen technology comes from Cando Corporation and Compal Electronics got the gig assembling the new iPad.

Taiwan's Digitimes has also claimed that Taiwanese companies are beginning to assemble a 7-inch iPad.

Unsurprisingly all the companies named in the Economic Daily report declined to comment.

Would a slightly smaller iPad interest you? Do you wish you hadn't jumped in and bought the original? Sound off below.