Despite incessant efforts by mobile technology giant Apple to keep a lid on its developments on a speculated "mini iPad" model, the Chinese rumor mill is peddling claims that Apple is working on a smaller version of the iPad. The report published by NetEase details that Apple is working a new mini Apple tablet.

According to NetEase, the device will be launched sometime later this year. The launch, according to the rumor mill, is a bid to counterattack the upcoming Windows tablets. The report further details that the device will be priced between the range of $249 and $299. If the details of the report are anything to go by, the launch will see a whopping 6 million units ready for purchase right after the launch.

The speculation is in line with what many Apple analysts have been mentioning - that a smaller iPad may actually spin the tables for Apple as it may have the potential to dominate the smaller tablet market in the long term.

What is interesting to note is that NetEase mentions in its story that if the mini iPad project is indeed true, Honhai Precision (Foxconn) and Pegatron are the two companies that will be involved in the mini iPad manufacture. It may be interesting to also note that Pegatron is a former subsidiary of Asustek, the company that is working with Google at the moment towards the release of the next series of Android tablets.

At the moment Apple's 9.7-inch iPad is the top seller and the much speculated cheaper and smaller version may just rubber stamp Apple's dominance in the tablet market.

And though Steve Jobs himself had always brushed off rumors around the release of a smaller iPad, Apple watchers insist that a mini iPad is on the cards in a closely guarded strategy bent on competing with the coming Windows tablets. In fact, Apple may well have been spurred in the mini iPad direction by the success tasted by Amazon's Kindle Fire, a cheap 7-inch multimedia tablet that is dominating the entry level tablet market.

(reported by Gugulethu Nyoni, edited by Dave Clark)