According to a new report from Digitimes, the iPad 2 may ship as early as February 2011 – in less than 100 days now. Foxconn’s plants in Shenzen have been recently notified that initial shipments, due in February, will reach 400,000 - 600,000 units:

The sources pointed out that the iPad 2 will ship as soon as the end of February in 2011. Apple originally planned to start mass production in January, but because the device’s firmware is currently still in testing, Apple has been postponing the schedule. Since Foxconn’s new plants in Chengdu are still in pilot production, iPad 2 will be mainly supplied by its Shenzhen plants, while the company’s upstream component partners have all been notified of the shipments schedule.

Rumors surfaced in November suggested that Apple would include a FaceTime camera in the next iPad, USB ports, Retina Display and a gyroscope. It is also believed that Largan Precision has been selected to be the camera lens maker of the next generation iPad.

Foxconn, of course, declined to comment on the new rumors.