I usually avoid regurgitating Apple rumors (because there are so many of them and they’re rarely true), but the Wall Street Journal is reporting in a piece that seems to be well-sourced that Apple’s suppliers have begun “mass production” of a smaller iPad. The gadget will have a 7.85-inch display, according to the Journal, and will offer lower resolution than the newest iPad.

I first wrote that Apple should offer a smaller iPad two years ago, and my colleague Kevin Tofel has also pushed for such a gadget. (Indeed, one of his pieces appears to have been a source of inspiration for Apple.) A smaller iPad would offer increased portability, of course, and would presumably enable Apple to offer a less expensive alternative because of production costs. And it could easily support many of the amazing apps in the App Store.

But the low end of the tablet market has quickly become a crowded space. Amazon has gained solid traction there with its growing line of Kindle products, and several attractive alternatives are available from other vendors. Apple would likely make a dent here pretty quickly, of course, but it missed the chance to lock up that market for a while by not producing a smaller iPad two years ago.