So says the WSJ which reports that component makers are ramping up for a big launch in the spring of next year. The big selling point of this seems to be the retina display, that’s the ultra high resolution found on the iPhone that hasn’t yet made the leap to the pad.

Says the Journal:

The next generation iPad is expected to feature a high resolution display – 2048 by 1536 compared with 1024 by 768 in the iPad 2 – and Apple’s suppliers have already shipped small quantities of components for the sampling of the iPad 3. Suppliers said Apple has placed orders for a 9.7-inch screen device.

There have been rumors that the iPad 3 was supposed to launch this fall but was delayed by the screen.