According to the Taiwan Economic News, Asus expects that Apple could release the iPad 3 (or the iPad 2 Plus?) as early as this US Thanksgiving (or “or next year” it also points out). Asus also expects that Apple will release it at the same price points as the current iPad 2 and discount the iPad 2 to clear out inventory.
In response, Asus is working on a second generation Eee Pad Transformer geared specifically to take on the new iPad. The report suggests that the new Transformer will be lighter, thinner, and have better battery life than its predecessor. It will also start and shut down faster. Earlier rumours suggested that it would be powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich.
The report also suggests that Asus will introduce its new tablet at a price point low enough to convince customers that it will not be marked down later to encourage them to buy it sooner.
After overcoming production issues, Asus expects to ship up to 2 million Transformer tablets this year.