Apple's 12.9-Inch iPad Rumored For October 2014

Apple's AAPL rumored large iPad concept is in the news again, and analysts are weighing in. According to DigiTimes, Apple will release a 12.9-inch iPad in October 2014. The Mac maker was originally thought to be developing concepts for both 12.9-inch and 13.3-inch tablets, but it seems that the slightly smaller iteration may have won out. This report is still just a rumor, but Andy Hargreaves, the Senior Research Analyst of Digital Media at Pacific Crest Securities, is confident that Apple will release a larger iPad. "I do think they are gonna go that route," Hargreaves told Benzinga. "I don't think it's coming anytime soon, but I think the supply chain speculation is fairly legitimate." Hargreaves has his doubts about the product's overall value, however. "I don't quite get it, to be honest," he said. "I don't think it'll be terribly incremental from a profit standpoint. While there are probably a lot of people that would prefer a 13-inch iPad to a 10-inch iPad because they use it basically as a notebook, I think those people are fairly limited in number and already are buying an iPad or a MacBook Air -- or both. So you're probably just replacing sales rather than adding new sales." Related: Analysts: Apple's China Mobile Deal Will Add 17M To 30M In Incremental iPhone Sales Shebly Seyrafi, the Managing Director at FBN Securities, told Benzinga that it "makes sense" for Apple to "create different kinds of form factors for different kinds of customer needs." "I think [the large iPad] is one that's been widely discussed," he said. The DigiTimes report also stated that Apple will release a larger iPhone in May 2014. The device is expected to use a 20nm processor that will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Hargreaves disagrees with the rumored May 2014 release date. "I expect it in the fall with the normal replacement [schedule]," he said. "It's probably a little bit different of a story there [versus the larger iPad]. You have people who obviously like that form factor and have been buying Android products to get that form factor. So you may be able to add incremental sales with that." In addition to these product rumors, Apple made headlines on Sunday after the company finally announced a deal with the world's largest carrier, China Mobile. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.