<p>Tokyo: Sharp Corp has nearly halted production of 9.7-inch screens for Apple Inc's iPad, two sources said, possibly as demand shifts to its smaller iPad mini.</p><p>Sharp's iPad screen production line at its Kameyama plant in central Japan has fallen to the minimal level to keep the line running this month after a gradual slowdown began at the end of 2012 as Apple manages its inventory, the industry sources with knowledge of Sharp's production plans told Reuters.</p><p>Sharp has stopped shipping iPad panels, the people with knowledge of the near total production shutdown said. The exact level of remaining screen output at Sharp was not immediately clear but it was extremely limited, they said.</p><p>Company spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said: "We don't disclose production levels." Apple officials, contacted late in the evening after normal business hours in California, did not have an immediate comment.</p><p><a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sharp-halts-production-of-97inch-screens-for-apple-ipad-sources/316614-11.html">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/benzingainsights/2013/01/18/did-the-ipad-mini-just-kill-off-the-ipad-4/">Did the iPad Mini Just Kill Off the iPad 4?</a> (Forbes)</p><p><a href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ipad-sales-are-slipping/">iPad sales may be slipping as demand shifts to iPad Mini (or Android)</a> (Digital Trends)</p><p><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-57564708/is-ipad-mini-cannibalizing-its-bigger-sibling/">Is iPad mini cannibalizing its bigger sibling?</a> (CBS News)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=ddpTcJzwpzkVYXMeurYVOU6JBdjEM&ned=us">325 additional articles.</a></p>