There may soon be a new family member among Apple’s high tech gadgets to welcome into the world — the baby iPad! Speculation is growing that Apple plans to launch a mini-iPad possibly as soon as this October.
The junior version is thought to measure nearly 7.85 inches on the diagonal compared with 9.7 for its Father. Plus, it will have the mini-price of less than RM631 — or nearly half as much as the iPad.
Apple is notoriously hush-hush about new developments, but the leak supposedly comes from somebody in the supply chain. A Samsung official (who must be delighted to be still-unidentified) told the Korea Times that Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad “by the end of this year.”
Strangely, Samsung is in a position to know. Apple has a RM34.9 billion contract with the South Korean company to provide its solid-state drives (SSD) and other parts.
The two companies maintain a delicate balance. They are constantly at war over patents. Apple just won a temporary injunction to stop Samsung from selling its Galaxy Nexus phones in the U.S.A. based on a possible patent infringement. But it turns out the ban was very short-lived.
It was announced on Friday that Samsung along with Google, which owns the Android operating system, has found a way to circumvent the problem areas cited in the patent infringement case and expects the phones to be back on USA store shelves next week.
The idea of a smaller tablet isn’t new. But, it was never popular with Apple’s late founder, Steve Jobs. Jobs said in 2010, “The reason we won’t make a seven-inch tablet isn’t because we don’t want to hit a lower price point, it’s because we think the screen is too small to express the software.'” But, a lot has changed in two years.
Though people love the iPad’s touch, it has never been a device that fits in a pocket or an evening bag. Amazon introduced its successful 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet and Google produces its own branded 7-inch tablet, the Nexus 7. Even Microsoft has a tablet – the Surface, which will be going on sale later this year.
With the tablet market getting more competitive, Apple needs to be “in it to win it.” Apple still has 55 per cent of the tablet market down from 62 percent in 2010. But, other companies like Amazon are carving out their slices of the pie.
Plus, the move to smaller from bigger backs up what smart money has been preaching – smaller tablets are more versatile. Many feel the next paradigm shift will be phones converging with tablets. Phones have already converged with devices like the iPod.
It makes sense for Apple to get its foot into this market now. Tech experts compare the new mini-iPad to a paperback book and the iPad to a hard copy.
Some people don’t mind the extra weight if they get a better feel and picture clarity. At the lower price point, Apple may be turning the page on new sales and writing the next chapter on how to retain market share.