Apple's upcoming tablet, the iPad 3, will come with a host of features that are sure to be brought on in fear of the company’s tablet competition.

The tablet market is now full with plenty of options from companies, such as Samsung, Asus, and Amazon. Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is said to be counting on this new model to ward off mounting competition in a market that Apple pioneered two years ago.

Apple has sold more than 40-million iPads thus far, generating at least $25.3-billion in sales. But they now compete with the above companies for the current tablet market share.

According to global market research firm IHS iSuppli, in the last three months of 2011, Amazon sold 3.9-million Kindle Fire tablets. This has placed the Kindle Fire brand in the 2nd-place slot behind Apple in terms of tablet shipments.

Apple is still successful in this day and age. The company's stock recently rose 26-percent in 2011, marking its 3rd straight year of gains.

Some say the Apple is now fearful of other tablet companies taking its top spot. Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, said the company doesn’t comment on rumor and speculation, however.

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The iPad 3 tablet is being prepped for a March release. Apple’s manufacturing partners in Asia have reportedly started speeding up production of the iPad 3 this month.

Bloomberg’s sources said the manufacturing partners plan to have full volumes of the iPad 3 by February.

The upgraded tablet will reportedly feature use a quad-core chip, an enhancement that lets users jump more quickly between applications, Bloomberg’s other sources said.

LTE connectivity is also said to be a prominent feature of the iPad 3. This newly added specification is being added to the tablet because the iPad 3 has a bigger battery and can better support the power requirements of the newer technology. Another one of Bloomberg’s sources stated this as true.

The new HD display is capable of greater resolution than the current iPad, with more pixels on its screen than some high- definition televisions. Bloomberg’s sources also revealed that the pixels are small enough to make the images appear like printed material. Videos will begin playing almost instantly due to the additional graphics processing chip of the iPad 3.

The introduction of the new iPad will be Apple’s first major hardware release since the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs in October. Apple is banking on the iPad 3’s new, attractive features to show its competition that it’s still the number one company when it comes to selling tablets.