Apple's iPad mini uses a display from Samsung Electronics, one of Apple's major suppliers and also its rival in the global mobile-device market. Although analysts say Apple is trying to wean itself off its reliance on Samsung, teardown specialist company iFixit discovered a Samsung display driver chip in the iPad mini, which indicated that Apple had picked the Korean firm's screen technology. However, Apple often relies on multiple suppliers for a single component, meaning there's quite likely other LCD manufacturers lurking inside other iPad Mini's.

Apple is also generally using screens made by LG Display and Sharp.

The iPad mini also employs SK Hynix Inc flash memory, a Broadcom touch controller, chips from Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc, iFixit's teardown also showed. The iPad mini is also powered by the A5 processor, which has 512 MB RAM, just like the processor in the latest iPod Touch.

Priced at $329 for a Wi-Fi only model, the iPad mini is more expensive than many analysts had expected. Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, both released at $199, have grabbed a chunk of the lower end of the tablet market.

DisplaySearch analysts have said that Samsung has stopped supplying displays for Apple's iPhone. Apple is also buying fewer memory chips from Samsung for the iPhone 5, relying more on Hynix and Elpida Memory.