The iPad Mini 2 release date is still in the second half of 2013 alongside the latest build of the original 9.7-inch iPad, a new report said, but the rollout for the 7.9-inch tablet could be without Retina.

Glenn Yeung of Citi Research maintained that two iPad versions will hit the market in the following months, contradicting the forecast aired by KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo that the iPad Mini 2 will not arrive until March or April 2014.

Mr Kuo cited production and component glitches as the cause of the delay.

Mr Yeung, however, was convinced that Apple is going ahead with the twin iPad launch later this year. "We continue to expect iPad 5 and a low-cost iPad Mini to be launched in 2H13 (second half 2013)," the analyst was reported by CNET as saying in a new note.

While Mr Kuo suggested that Apple was having problems with the energy requirements of Retina panel on the iPad Mini, this likely will be addressed at the interim by issuing a version minus the high-resolution screen display in the form of the cheaper iPad Mini, according to Mr Yeung.

It appeared, too, that Apple needs to double its iPad marketing in light of the declining sales trend seen in the latest financial results of the tech giant. Overall, iPad shipments in the past 12 months ending in June 2013 shrunk alarmingly by around 80 percent, indicating that Android rival are gaining traction.

In the 3 months spanning the second quarter of 2013, Apple only cleared over 14 million units of iPad and the outlook is not getting any better for the company's tablet business, according to Mr Yeung.

This Apple division, the analyst said, will only expand by around 6 percent by the end of December 2013, notwithstanding the double onslaught of the iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 beginning October this year.

With the emergence of cheaper Android alternatives, with some packing more powerful specs and cooler features, the tablet competition was getting tighter as reflected in the retreating shipments of Apple in the September 2013 quarter.

According to DigiTimes, only about 12 million iPads will be shipped out in Q3 2013 as Apple anticipates a general slow down in sales, as global consumers wait out for the release of newer tablet models, both in the iOS and Android worlds.

A huge pick up will occur in Q4 2013, but the surge would not be enough for the iPad maker to reach the 58 percent growth projection for its tablet business, which was earlier supplied by research firm IDC, according to Mr Yeung.

On release date, both the iPad 5 and the iPad Mini 2 will be expected to carry upgraded components - faster processors and brighter screens - plus killer features packed into the revamped and simplified iOS 7.

Based on estimates by analysts, actual rollout for the iPad 5 will likely set for the first week of September, while the iPad Mini 2 will not land until December 2013, that is if the small tablet will indeed arrive this year.