Apple iPad mini starting production in Brazil?

According to a source for Macotakara, production of the Apple iPad mini has started in a unnamed Brazilian factory believed to belong to Foxconn. The latter owns the factories in China where the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad are assembled, and opened up the factory in Brazil this year. In addition, the source says that on production units of the device, the microphone hole seen on the rear cover of tablet mockups is missing, even though a rear mic is on the new Apple iPhone 5.

Mockup of the Apple iPad mini

The latest rumor involving the Apple iPad mini is that on October 10th, the Cupertino based tech titan will send out invitations for a press event. This would confirm earlier reports that Apple would have an October event for the 7.85 inch tablet separate from the September introduction of the Apple iPhone 5. Most likely Apple didn't want the media attention focused on one device to cannibalize what would have been the attention focused on the other device. With the world wide media focus that the Apple iPhone receives, had the Apple iPad mini been introduced last month alongside the handset, it might have ended up being swept aside amongst an avalanche of stories about the larger 4 inch screen, the faster processor and the LTE connectivity on the new iPhone 5.    

The Apple iPad mini is expected to compete in the low priced tablet category where the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7 dwell. Last year during the holiday season, the freshly launched Amazon Kindle Fire, competed strongly against the Apple iPad 2. The Apple iPad mini is said to look more like the Apple iPhone than the Apple iPad, with a screen surrounded by a bezel.