The large iPad is back in vogue. Totals for iPad Mini (7.9-inch) display shipments in the first quarter came to just more than 6 million, according to a report from ZDNet Korea (Korean language), via an English-language BrightWire News report. That's less than 8.4 million logged for the 9.7-inch iPad models in the same period, according to an earlier ZDNet Asia report. The 9.7-inch size includes both iPad Air and the iPad with Retina Display, aka iPad 4. This follows a similar trend in the previous quarter. Shipments of the 9.7-inch iPad "really pulled away from the mini in [the fourth quarter of 2013], after running very close to each other during 2013," NPD's Paul Semenza, who manages NPD's DisplaySearch and Solarbuzz businesses, told CNET in an email. Shipments of the larger iPad (not just the display) were 16.8 million in the fourth quarter, compared to 9.2 million for the iPad Mini, according to Semenza. "I would say it is a fair conclusion to say that iPad out-shipped the iPad mini in Q1 [2014]," he said. And that reverses a trend seen at the beginning of last year when the Mini was out-shipping its larger cousin. The popularity of the larger iPad means that Samsung has become Apple's largest display supplier of the 9.7-inch model. For both sizes combined, LG Display is the biggest supplier.
