Just yesterday we reported that despite rumors of Sharp’s IGZO displays not meeting the yield rates set by Apple, there was still a possibility of Apple utilizing said displays for their upcoming iPad 3. Thanks to Japanese blog Macotakara, the photo you are looking at above appears to be a component allegedly belonging to the display that Sharp will providing Apple for their iPad 3.
Granted this could be pretty much any component manufactured by Sharp, it was acknowledged that Sharp had IGZO display panels manufactured (although they have yet to make their way into commercial products), so this could very well be one of those components.
However according to the blog, this part was obtained by a parts reseller, and with its size appearing to be that of 9.7”, and sporting a cable that connects to the motherboard similar to that of the iPad 2’s LCD panel, it is believed (by some) that this could belong to the iPad 3.
However with Apple’s habit of producing multiple prototypes of a device, it is possible that this component could just be another prototype, assuming that it is even a component that has anything to do with Apple in the first place. Once again we suggest you take this with a grain of salt for now, but assuming the iPad 3 is to be announced in the first week of March, we guess we don’t have to wait very long for official confirmation.