New reports reveal Apple (News - Alert) has placed orders for 10-inch displays plus strong glass panels and connectors to go with to be used in its forthcoming “tablet” device.

 

DigiTimes said it predicts that Apple could announce its new tablet device in January with volume shipments to follow by March.

Also according to DigiTimes, Foxconn’s manufacturing subsidiary Innolux will serve as the main supplier of these 10-inch panels for a soon-to-be-released multi-touch device. Wintek, Apple’s primary iPhone (News - Alert) display panel purveyor, will be in charge of filling many of the remaining orders.

Citing sources from the iPhone maker’s component suppliers, the Taiwanese rumor site also reports that the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has been “seeking solutions to strengthen the glass of the 10-inch panel for the” tablets, a move which contributed to delaying the device’s launch until the first quarter of 2010.

G-Tech Optoelectronics, Foxconn’s optical glass processing subsidiary, will reportedly provide this unidentified glass strengthening process. Taiwan-based optical film maker Wah Hong Industrial has also been tapped to supply components for this effort.

Another report from Taiwan’s “Economic Daily” newspaper said that Cheng Uei Precision has received large orders for new flat-panel Tablet PC connector parts.

In July, AppleInsider reported that Apple would base its long-awaited tablet device around a 10-inch display.