Bloomberg reports that Apple has cut iPad 2 orders from Foxconn in China by up to 25%, which likely indicates Apple shifting production to the new Brazilian plant, according to JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz.

Several supply-chain vendors indicated in the past two weeks that Apple lowered fourth-quarter iPad orders 25 percent, the first such cut that analysts at JPMorgan’s electronic manufacturing services team in Hong Kong said they have ever seen. The report didn’t list the affected companies, and Gokul Hariharan, one of the report’s authors, said he couldn’t comment when reached by Bloomberg News today.

We think it’s a bit premature to pin this on Apple gearing up for iPad 3 production, as TiPb recently heard Apple had returned iPad 3 to the traditional spring schedule. Instead, the idea of Apple shifting production to the new plant seems more likely. Earlier this month, The Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Aolizio Mercadante, has confirmed that the new Foxconn factory in Jundiai Brazil is up and running.

Moskowitz believes Apple will sell between 10.9 and 12 million iPads during the 4th quarter, up from 9.25 million in Q3.

Source: Bloomberg

Speaking of Apple TV and the future, MacRumors reports that Apple’s “hobby” lost its smaller SKU this morning as the 40GB Apple TV was cut from the Apple Store — and Apple product lineup — and the 160GB Apple TV was given a healthy price cut down from $329 to $229 [Apple Store link].

So our question becomes, is this a sign of Apple TV’s slow slide to oblivion, or just a clearing of the deck before a long, long, long overdue update?

Storage aside, the Apple TV hardware has been unchanged since it was announced back in 2006 and then launched at Macworld 2007 alongside the introduction of the iPhone. The software received minor 1.x bumps before getting the minor 2.x bumps — mostly in keeping with iTunes and QuickTime updates.

Of course, with iTunes 9 and Snow Leopard‘s QuickTime X both being fairly significant updates this time around, no doubt another software bump is on its way… Could there finally be some new hardware coming with it?

We’ll keep our hopes up, but we’ve learned to live with anticipointment…

Hudson, maker of a ton of different iPhone games, is offering a limited time free download for three of their most popular games! We already told you about Aqua Forest, but now Catch the Egg and Neo Same Game have also been price dropped to the low, low price of FREE. Act fast and download now because the free trial offer is supposed to end on Oct 12th, which is only a couple hours away!

Here are the iTunes Store Links:

Aqua Forest (formerly $7.99)

Catch The Egg (formerly $3.99)

Neo Same Game (formerly $3.99)

What are you doing here still? Go download for free! Don’t say TiPb doesn’t love you!

Via

MLB At Bat just announced a price cut that puts the price at a very affordable $2.99 (from $5) to get an impressive app with a slick interface and great features. Good deal, right? How thoughtful of you MLB to cut the price just in time for playoffs so us fans can get a taste of the action. WRONG.

Why is it a bad deal? Because you have to buy MLB At Bat again next year! The current version of MLB At Bat will expire after the end of the season which is in approximately the end of this month. Maybe even sooner. So if it’s worth it to you to spend money on an app that will be useless in a few weeks time, by golly do it! But for the rest of us, Sportacular should work fine.

Does anyone else think charging users every year is a little ridiculous? Maybe I’m still in shock over the 6th inning of the NLCS and a little peeved about this whole baseball thing but I just don’t find it good practice on MLB’s part-they need to highlight this aspect a little better. But maybe after Game 2, I’ll celebrate in utter jubilation by buying an app that will soon be worthless?

The MLB is again bungling this whole technology thing–remember they switched DRM for their videos back in 07 and users lost ALL previously purchased videos. DRM sucks but having things wrongfully taken away from you blows even more.

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