The 7" iPad has been long rumoured and even thought to be in production. I personally think that apple will never do such a thing. Having two tablets' on the market would not really make sense. I can understand that people would like to have a portable version of the iPad to read books and such, but that would force apple to create yet another ecosystem for developers to build and scale for. Of course you can downscale iPad apps but that would degrade the quality of the image. I think the main reason for the 7" tablet would be as an e-reader, browsing on a 7" wouldn't seem right (I have a playbook and hardly ever use it). Its not comfortable to take out when I'm out and its too small to browse when I'm home.
If we go through apple's history of products and models, they have known to have mini's and smaller versions of popular products such as iPod video, nano, shuffle (but with each smaller version of the product a crucial feature was removed ex; iPod video(more storage/larger screen)--(iPod nano/smaller screen/less memory)--(iPod shuffle/no screen). And if we look at more recent history there have been talks about a 4" iPhone, which would totally make sense because the wider screen would allow more room for a better battery and more components while allowing a slimmer profile. Once the 4' iPhone does and WILL come out, there would really be no need for a 7" tablet because of the size ratio.
So thats my schpeel, do what you will with it.
If we go through apple's history of products and models, they have known to have mini's and smaller versions of popular products such as iPod video, nano, shuffle (but with each smaller version of the product a crucial feature was removed ex; iPod video(more storage/larger screen)--(iPod nano/smaller screen/less memory)--(iPod shuffle/no screen). And if we look at more recent history there have been talks about a 4" iPhone, which would totally make sense because the wider screen would allow more room for a better battery and more components while allowing a slimmer profile. Once the 4' iPhone does and WILL come out, there would really be no need for a 7" tablet because of the size ratio.
So thats my schpeel, do what you will with it.