A second report has come out of Taiwan claiming Asus has won the contract to manufacture Apple's upcoming Intel-based iBook, expected to ship as the MacBook.

According to a report on the Taiwan Economic News website, Asus - aka Asustek - will produce 1.2m MacBooks, which are due to ship this quarter. The story claims the machine will ship with a 13.3in widescreen display.

The story claims Apple "said the 13.3in notebooks would supplant existing 12.1in and 14.1in models", though we'd be surprised if that's the case given Apple's policy on not commenting on unannounced products. Indeed, the piece appears to be based on a number of other reports about Apple's alleged 13.3in MacBook, so shouldn't be taken as confirmation.

The report does add to the overall coverage of the upcoming notebook by alleging Taiwan's AU Optronics, the island's largest LCD producer, will supply 40,000-50,000 13.3in panels to Apple each month. Apple will pay $130-140 per screen, the report claims. ®