Rumor: Apple ordering 10-inch touchscreens for Q3

Reuters is reporting that Apple will take delivery of newly developed 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan in the third-quarter of 2009 according to a source.

Taiwanese firm Wintek already has the contract to produce the touchscreen panels found in the iPhone and has received orders for larger 10-inch panels reports a source close to the Taiwanese firm.

This new rumor appears to corroborate Dow Jones Newswire reports from earlier this week that Apple is planning to launch a netbook with a touchscreen as soon as the second half of this year.

It looks like Apple is paying attention to the netbook space after all. The only thing that worries me is the price. Touchscreen panels are famously more expensive that their commoditized display-only cousins, so Apple's new 10-inch touchscreen netbook could cost significantly more than $500 -- which is worrisome.

On the other hand, if Apple simply makes it a "larger iPhone" as opposed to a "smaller MacBook" their may be more economies of scale to be realized. If it is going to cost more than $500, I hope that they release a non-touchscreen, clamshell version with a traditional keyboard for the cost-conscious.

Photo: Flickr user Frunny