Apple is gearing up for a big 2011 by ordering component makers to supply 65 million 9.7 inch tablet displays for next year.

According to sources cited by Digitimes, the company has asked LG Display to supply more than 35 million display units while Samsung and Chimei Innolux will split the remaining 30 million between them.

Apple's intentions indicate that the company is expecting 2011 to be massive for its tablet devices despite analyst estimates which predict that Apple will sell "only" 45-48 million iPad units next year.

LG Display has already churned out 1.5 million iPad display panels for Apple in the month of November with Samsung contributing 1.2 million units, bringing the total number of iPad displays purchased by Apple in 2010 to 16.76 million units.

With Apple hounding most of the large tablet displays, bringing down the price charged by component manufacturers, it may become harder for competitors to offer devices with similar-sized displays at a lower price.

The latest rumours about the iPad 2 point to three different versions of the tablet, a wide-range speaker and an iPhone 4 finish.