Electronics accessories designers have produced hundreds of iPad cases for the burgeoning iPad market. But fresh rumors of a smaller, mini iPad for early 2011 has them scrambling to keep up.

Apple’s announcement of the new iPad in January of 2011 put the electronics accessories designers on red alert. They had very little time to design and produce iPad cases that would work with the iPad, and as a result, many of them simply retro-engineered iPhone 4 cases to work with the iPad. Since that time, most iPad case designers have been playing catch-up with the iPad.

Only now are we starting to see really interesting iPad case designs.

Just as the iPad case designers have begun to hit their stride, we’re now hearing rumors that Apple has a new iPad in the works that would send the case gurus back to the drawing board once again. Word around the Apple water cooler is that a “mini iPad” is in the design phase that would offer the same functionality of the 9.7″ iPad, but in a more diminutive 7″ package.

To date, we have seen a significant increase in the rate of new products from Apple. Just one month after the release of the iPad in Australia, the iPhone 4 was quickly released to Australia and the world market. While many people assumed that the hasty release of the iPhone 4 was due to the leaked photos of the phone in May, new rumors of a mini iPad — plus a fresh rumor that the iPhone 5 could debut as early as January 2011 in the U.S. and Australia soon after — suggests that the stacked release of Apple gadgets could be more than an aberration.

It might be a new marketing tactic that iPad case and Apple accessories designers will simply have to keep up with.

No details about the new iPad mini accompany the rumor, and as a result, tech journalists are debating what it will look like? Will it simply be a smaller version of the current iPad, or will it feature a different body type, port positions, buttons, and switches?

All of these questions concern the iPad case designers, who will once again have to move quickly to roll out new mini iPad cases. Adding to the pressure is the fact that Apple has recently made aggressive strides into the accessories market by offering their own branded iPad case — which debuted ahead of all of the others — as well as free bumper cases for the iPhone 4 (another stresser for the case companies).

If the mini iPad is a reconfiguration of the current design, brand new iPad case designs will have to be drawn up.

Regardless of how excited you may be about the process of accelerated Apple gadget releases, the new trend doesn’t bode well for electronics accessories. The fast pace, together with Apple’s notorious lack of transparency about their device specs prior to their release, will result in poorly-designed cases or delayed releases of cool cases.

Perhaps this plays directly into Apple’s move to enter the accessories market?

Thanks for reading our article! If you’re ready to purchase some rechargeable batteries, battery chargers, or any other electronics accessory, then visit the Electronics Warehouse website and use promo code EWBLOG at checkout for 10% off your entire order, plus FREE shippingAustralia wide!