It is Apple tradition to refresh its key products once a year and the iPad is no different. It is highly expected that Apple will release a new iPad sometime this spring with a camera and now possibly a global GSM/CDMA chip inside too.
Apple currently only sells the iPad with chips built in that work on the GSM network, while many parts of the world use this standard, there are also quite a few who use CDMA network too. Currently the iPad will not work natively on the CDMA network but that may soon change.
According to Allthingsd.com, “Recent checks…suggest Apple is going to be ratcheting down production of the existing 3G iPad over the next two months in anticipation of ramping up a new World iPad that is powered by Qualcomm and will run on both GSM and CDMA based networks around the world,” Blair writes. “Given our recent checks that suggest Apple is preparing to build approximately 48 million iPads in calendar 2011.”
The idea seems logical that Apple would build one device that would work on numerous networks rather than being locked to one carrier. Something that cant be overlooked is that if Apple is dumping its exclusive AT&T iPad data link, could they also be dumping their iPhone exclusiveness as well too? While many reports suggest that Apple is looking to produce a CDMA iPhone, this "world iPad" report could also be the reason that Apple ordered so many CDMA chips and not because its building an iPhone.