[By Sudarshana Banerjee]

Rumor has it, Apple is planning to sell a Wi-fi-only iPad 2 for $399 to $299. The Wi-fi-only iPads currently come in three models –  $499 for 16 GB, $599 for 32 GB and $699 for 64 GB. Chances are Apple may slash the price of its 16 GB model by $100-$200, or what is more likely, the company will introduce a lower end 8GB version for $299 kinda money.

Mind you, these are still rumors. The likely price drop was reported by Digitimes, that cited sources within Apple’s supply chain to claim that there were going to be two versions of the iPad – for the higher end of the market, and entry level models, which given Apple’s pricing strategy, will constitute the mid-range of the market. James Wang, writing for Digitimes Research in Taipei suggests the iPad2 price may drop to $399 for the entry level.

While iPads still continue to remain the darling of gagdets lovers, cheaper Android tablets have flooded the market. Amazon’s Kindle, which started out as an altogether different segment (e-readers) have also been giving Apple a good run for its money. Fortunately, or otherwise, Apple has never shied away from a good run. Apple has never really built cheaper products for the mass market, and it is unlikely the company will start now.

Macworld is just round the corner, so we will know soon enough…