A news report says Apple plans to unveil a new iPad early next month.

AllThingsD, a website affiliated with The Wall Street Journal, says Apple Inc is holding an event in San Francisco the first week of March - the same week Apple announced the iPad 2 last year.

The report cites unnamed people familiar with the device. Apple declined comment yesterday.

It's not known whether the new device will be called the iPad 3, and when it will be available for sale. Last year, sales of the iPad 2 began in the US nine days after the announcement.

Since the first iPad came out in 2010, sales of traditional computers have slowed. Rivals PC and phone makers have been unable to mirror Apple's success with their own tablet computers.