The iPad 3 will be officially unveiled just days from now, but the rumor mill is always forward-looking, which means it’s already on its way to being yesterday’s news. What can we expect after the iPad 3? That’s what everyone wants to know now.

If a report from Apple’s best frenemy Samsung is anything to go by, it’ll be the long-rumored iPad mini.

The rather bizarre (and casually dropped) revelation comes via a Samsung Securities document, which explicitly states that Apple will release a new 7-inch device called the iPad mini to compete with the likes of the Galaxy Tab 7 and the Kindle Fire.

Following the success of its iPad 1 and iPad 2, which have together achieved sales of 55m units, Apple plans in 1Q12 to launch the iPad 3 and in 3Q12 a new 6-inch product temporarily referred to as the iPad mini.

Sounds pretty assertive, doesn’t it, especially from Samsung, a company that will likely contribute many parts to upcoming iPad models.

But there’s a lot to suggest that whoever wrote this document was just following the rumor cycle, same as us. For example, later in the same paragraph, Apple is looking to ship the iPad 3 using Sharp IGZO display panels. That’s almost definitely not going to happen, because IGZO technology isn’t yet ready for prime time, and there is no indication that Sharp can produce 65 Million IGZO displays yet. Instead, the iPad 3 is likely to use LG and Samsung displays… which presumably Samsung would know.

This is probably just another example of one of Samsung’ hands not knowing what the other is doing, so take with a grain of salt. And anyway, does anyone really want an iPad mini? Steve Jobs certainly didn’t seem to think so.

[via OLED Display]