Apple iPad 2 launch set for March

It's also expected that the new device will go on sale a month later, according to sources.

Apple has booked the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to launch iPad 2, where Steve Jobs also launched the orginal device.

Speculation in the run up to March 2 is now likely to focus on whether Mr Jobs will will make an appearance at the event.

He has been on medical leave from Apple since mid-January, and was pictured last week leaving a cancer clinic in Silicon Valley. Tim Cook, the firm's chief operating officer, is overseeing day-to-day opertaions in his absence.