The Ipad 3 release date will be March or April 2012. We now know there will definitely be an iPad 3 launch event on 7 March and we'll probably also see the release of iOS 5.1 at the same time.
We'd expect the iPad 3 US release date to be in early March and the iPad 3 UK release date later in the month.
Apple news site iMore was right in saying the announcement would be 7 March, citing sources "which have proved reliable in the past" have confirmed the date ahead of any official announcement from Cupertino.
On 27 February it was reported that the iPad 3 was ready to ship from Foxconn in China and a shipment would arrive in the US on 9 March.
Digitimes reported in late November 2011 that panel makers had already started shipping panels for the new iPad 3 - a million in October and two million in November.
Foxconn, Apple's major manufacturing partner, is said to have started production of the iPad 3 in January. 2012. A source at one of Apple's partners also told Bloomberg also stated that the company began production of the iPad 3 in January, with a view to reaching full volumes in February.
Digitimes reckons the new model is expected to meet the heady heights of 9.5 to 9.8 million units over the course of Q1 2012.