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Here\u2019s another heaping pile of grist for the Apple rumor mill: The company\u2019s Taiwanese manufacturing partners are said to be ramping up production of the touchscreen panels and aluminum chassis intended for the tablet\/slate computer Apple (AAPL) is widely expected to uncrate at an as-of-yet unannounced special event Jan. 27<\/a>. Which means the mysterious device is likely to arrive at market sometime in Q2.<\/p>\n“Production of the cases will begin in February, so everything points to a second-quarter launch right now,” an unnamed source told Reuters<\/a>. “It doesn’t take that long for the company to assemble the PC together, but a second-quarter shipment date is what we’re looking at now.”<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time we\u2019ve heard such predictions. Last month, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Yair Reiner said his checks into Apple\u2019s supply chain indicated that \u201cthe manufacturing cogs for the [device] were creaking into action\u201d with an eye toward a spring launch. <\/p>\n Additionally, sources this week told The Wall Street Journal that Apple would ship a tablet device to customers in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n