Apple Tablet by Spring 2010? Fine, Whatever

It's been far too long -- less than a week, actually -- since we've heard anything about the Apple tablet, but, fear not, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner has some newsConcrete Mixerto share: The Apple tablet could get a spring launch, he says, with production getting underway now. I'm also sad to report that there are no more original angles with which to write about the rumored, fabled, mythical, and mystical Apple tablet. Even the meta-story about Apple tablet stories has been done.

So here are the facts as Reiner's anonymous supply chain sources see them (via Fortune):

Apple intends to have 1 million tabletsConstructionbuilt per month, leading up to a March or April 2010 launch, Reiner's note to clients says. The screen is a 10.1-inch LCD, not OLED, but despite the lower-cost display, the average sale price is still estimated at $1,000. Electronic books appear to beConcrete Mixera big focus, with Apple reportedly offering publishers 70 percent of sales revenue with no exclusivity, and making the e-book market more attractive for education with the ability to scribble notes alongside the text.

Is this anything we haven't heard? Not really. Last month, DigiTimes reported that an LCD Apple tablet will be priced between $800 and $1,000, but also suggested that an OLED model, priced up to $2,000, was in development. The two-tablet rumor was previously incarnated as talk of a 6-inch, $679 device and a larger, Mac OS X-enabled tablet. As for the tablet saving dead-tree media companies, that's been covered too.

Cue the commentary. We've talked about how the Apple tablet will rule when it gets here, and how it's already dead or just a train wreck. I even looked at the fake Apple tablets fanboys created with their idle time.

My heart's not in it anymore. Deep down, I wasConstructionhoping the report from Reiner would blow over as more guesswork from yetConcrete Mixeranother analyst. But there was the note in my inbox: The Apple tablet's hot news, as always, and demands coverage. The only problem is that there's nothing left to cover.