Acer is reportedly considering lowering the price of its Iconia A1-810 tablet, using 7.9-inch 1024-by-768 IPS panels, from US$250 to US$149 to compete against the iPad mini, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The Iconia A1-810 tablet features a panel from AU Optronics (AUO) and a processor from MediaTek, and is manufactured by Wistron. The device will start mass production later this month (April) with shipment volumes to rise each month, the sources noted.

Wistron and Acer both declined to comment about the rumors.

Acer originally estimated its tablet shipments will reach only five million units in 2013, but with its Iconia B1's strong sales, company president Jim Wong has recently raised the shipment forecast to having chance to reach 10 million units.

In the first quarter, Acer's tablet shipments grew 260-300% sequentially with 70-75% of the shipments contributed by the Iconia B1.