Sharp cuts production of 9.7" iPad screens, demand may be shifting to Apple's iPad mini - Page 2

 

No there aren't. It's a RUMOR, an F'ing rumor.

Which inevitably will then get picked up by c|net, The Verge, Engadget, etc. and soon enough the meme will be that no one wants iPads any more and everyone is buying cheaper Android tablets now.

 

You write as if someone cares. Thanks for taking the time to write 10 posts.

 

Exactly!

 

And it took 30 + posts before anyone brought it up.

 

 

FWIW, here's the first prototype of the IGZO tablet:

 

 

 

Notice the new rhomboid form factor, rounded corners and bezel-less display!

 

Non-back-lit Retina display of 333 PPI (Pokes Per Inch).

 

This baby is a svelte 1 1/8" thick and weighs-in at a mere 12 lbs.

Edited by Dick Applebaum - 1/18/13 at 8:19am

Not just buying cheaper Androids, but simply buying less expensive tablets period.

 

IMHO there's little chance of Apple continuing to command $500+ prices for an iPad over the long haul. Why spend upwards of 100% more for one over another if they both serve the same purpose and just as efficiently for your intended use? Give it another 24 months or less and I predict you'll see some entry-level tablet given away free with a contract for content subscription. There's already at least one tablet being sold that reportedly cost less than $40 to build.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/28/aakash-2-hands-on/

 

With LTE and VOIP it's not as clean but possible.  But yes, I agree.  If the iPad Mini had voice my wife would have dumped her iPhone since she doesn't usually have pockets and carries a purse or some kind of bag anyway.

 

 

How ironic that the mini size is such a big hit.

 

Sorry but that does class as irony.

Lesson passed.

 

That's cool. But just one point, this is not a rhomboid (unless you count squares as rhomboids). A rhomboid has oblique angles and unequal adjacent sides. But it does look like the first tablet in the shape of a rounded rectangle/square. And a curved display to boot!

 

Why?

 

Why?

I also want

the key is thinner (=lower weight).  More PPI is is counterproductive (requires more GPU power, ergo more power, more battery more weight).

Flexible has some advantages for durability, but not a big selling item.

 

Less weight per radial inch means less torque when holding between thumb and forefinger, which means less thumb surface area required, which means a smaller bezel (more specifically a larger view area).

 

All that said...

 

The timing is suspicious.   I strongly suspect there is a $500 over/under (letting over $500 shorts expire to protect hedge fund managers from covering their hedges, figuring that the stock likely going to explode 10+% over the next 2 months... as well as letting big money get back in at a major discount for future P/E expectation)

 

My guess is that Apple will announce blowout iPhone and iPad numbers, a decent (better than recent) margin on each.  There will be a March/April iPad release, and my guess a phone release that will signal a counter punching ability to the industry's ability to ride the April-September 'yawn' on the iPhone capabilities.  It may be a small tweak (better radios/antennas for LTE, internal optimizations, security[fingerprint], etc.  I have no basis on this, other than reading into TCook's past statements.

 

I think screen sizes will remain the same but the glass will be redesigned to support finger print authentication.

 

Time will tell.

 

 

AI did not cover an important aspect from the original article:

 

"In addition to Sharp, Apple also buys iPad screens from LG Display Co Ltd, its biggest supplier, and Samsung Display, a flat-panel unit of Samsung Electronics.

Both LG Display and Samsung Display declined to comment.

A source at Samsung Display, however, said there had not been any significant change in its panel business with Apple, which has been steadily reducing panel purchases from the South Korean firm.

A person who is familiar with the situation at LG Display said iPad screen production in the current quarter had fallen from the previous quarter ending in December, mainly due to weak seasonal demand that is typical after the busy year-end holiday sales period."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/us-sharp-ipad-idUKBRE90H0BZ20130118

 

/shrug  

 

I wish it meant they were cutting these panels to 7.85" for a spring refresh but the play appears to be idling.

 

At least now we know where Microsoft got the idea for Windows 8.

FWIW, I had to wait a week and a half to get my iPad 4 64gb AT&T from Best Buy as the entire region was out of stock...

Why does everybody always assume Apple releasing a less expensive version of something = a race to the bottom? Apple has always offered a budget item in every product line they sell. And none of it constitutes a race to the bottom.

And catering to just the high end is a bad business strategy too. Apple found this out in the early 90s when they lost their exclusivity of the Macintosh GUI. And I don't think this is what they are interested in doing. They seem to have a firm grasp of where to price products for the middle class consumer. But they also know that restricts bringing new users into the fold. So just like they provided entry level iPod products, and Macs, they appear to be offering entry level iOS products now. And have you seen the educational discounts? Apple offers some ridiculously low prices to students, teachers and schools. Where's the inflated profit margin on those? why arent the shareholders in an uproar over that? And what is the Apple TV? It's a cheap plastic box that competes directly with the Roku and others ... Hardly a high end Apple product. Why then? It's called seed planting and Apple gets that. They aren't "fine" with less than a third of the market. Why do people keep saying that like this is Apple's motto? What business would be?

Apple's strength is in its brand image and innovation. But consumers aren't dumb. Once other brands catch up to Apple's innovation, consumers recognize they are paying for a name or an image. That's what eventually happened to Cadillac as innovation and build quality dropped, but prices stayed the same, as other luxury brands caught up and surpassed them. While Apple is in no danger of going down the road Cadiallac took over the las 40 years, Android is quickly catching up in much the same way as Microsoft did in the 90s. Apple tried to innovate in other ways, the Newton, consumer products like the Quick Take, Power CD, Pippin, TV boxes -- sound familiar? History is repeating itself, but this time Apple did it right. If they let the competition blur the lines between iOS and Android, or even Windows, then they will lose the edge they have now. Since they can't really keep the competition from catching up as patent after patent is invalidated, then they need more customers invested in the iOS ecosystem. And they do that by buildings few quality products that are priced to sell for less, not a race to the bottom to undercut the competition. And by continuing to create category defining products that encourage adoption of other Apple products, just like the iPod and iPhone encouraged the adoption of the Mac.

I have my doubts about this. How long can companies sell hardware at cost when there's no real evidence content is a money maker? As long as Apple can show value for money and provide a superior user experience I don't think they need to play in a race to the bottom. They didn't do it with Mac's and I don't see them doing it with their idevices either. But this is where I think Apple really needs to double down on software & services. That's where one could argue they're falling behind (at least on the services side).

 

I don't think you have an understanding of the history of personal computing if you think "catering to just the high end" is what happened to Apple in the 90s, or that it had anything to do with Microsoft's success with Windows in that era. Which more or less undermines your whole contention that, "History is repeating itself." It isn't.

 

Once again we have this tired argument that pretends that Apple is just sitting there doing nothing, while everyone else catches up. Try to maintain a grip on reality. Flights of fancy can be fun, but they don't really work so well as rational argument.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=083031sByf8

 

Agree 100%.  

 

This is why I find the idea of reduced bezels on the larger iPad unlikely.  The larger iPad is for casual users, dilettantes, seniors, those who still desperately need a keyboard, etc.  Everyone I've met that really "gets" this new mobile paradigm and just wants to get things done, gravitates to the iPad mini and to a unified device stance (if only Apple would make it possible).  The rest are still marvelling at Angry Birds on the iPhone and trying to use the iPad as if it were a laptop.  

 

If they reduce the bezel on the larger iPad, all of a sudden large groups of older and less technical people will be dropped by the wayside.  The whole point of starting out with the larger iPad was to rope these people in to the mobile revolution.  To provide an idiot proof transitional device that even people who didn't like computers previously could use and to provide a bridge between the laptop and the new mobile devices.  It's a good strategy and one I don't see them abandoning.  

 

The iPad mini is more of a "pro" device.  

 

If they put the phone app on the mini, I too would drop the iPhone like yesterday's news. 

 

 

It seems a bit buggy.  Isn't that an addition error in the third column, second cell?  

 

Do you actually believe this stuff, or are you just trying to be provocative? It's wrong, 270 degrees wrong.

They are a very vocal, self-important subculture.

 

Yeah, I do actually.  

 

I find this comment disturbing in that I see you as one of the smarter people on here that I agree with about 90% of the time so your comment certainly gives me pause.  

Unless your joking and I missed it (270 degrees would mean I'm half-way back towards being right???)

 

Time will tell I suppose.  

 

My experience with the mini is that it does everything that the larger iPad does without any compromises, (other than the single fact that it doesn't really need or work well with keyboard accessories.)  But since the whole point of iOS devices is their lack of a need for a keyboard, I conclude that this is a "purer" iOS experience and that those that still need a keyboard case or a device that supports a keyboard, are actually "not doing it right."  They are transitional users.  

 

I don't see any of the kids going out and buying those thick leather keyboard cases, just adults and seniors.  

And if it's truly necessary to have one, then the whole iOS touch-computer thing is kind of a failure or a boondoggle isn't it?  

 

 

This man/woman has developed a leak? 

 

270° was to indicate that it was wrong in a way that wasn't even backwards, just completely off course. As for keyboards, I see plenty of people buying them for minis, more than I've seen for 9.7" iPads.

 

They already have less expensive versions: iPad mini, iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.  They may replace the "old models" with dedicated budget models that sell for similar prices, but going any more budget than what they have right now *is* racing to the bottom.

 

The only way they'll get cheaper is by designing for price instead of quality, and slashing their profit margins. The first hurts their brand, the second could well reduce their total profits.  Sure they'll sell more, but will that compensate for the cannabilization of the more expensive models?  We're already seeing that with the iPad mini, imagine what a $200 low end model would do.  How many extra low margin $200 iPads would they have to sell to get the profit of a $400 high margin model?  Four? Eight? Will they really sell that many more?

 

I really need to change that to "*snort*"… 

OMG, yet another isolated fragment of info about part supplies management - at one single factory no less - being spun by the hit-whoring tech web echo chamber into a mega-index of Apple's "troubles."

 

the fools are running wild these days.

 

the only thing Apple is doing "wrong" is waiting three weeks to report its actual sales every quarter. that gives the web idiots three weeks to run off at the mouth. and of course they are never held to account after their BS is revealed as smelly poop. they'll do it all over again next quarter.

 

You can do that with other alternative products that are generally cheaper and varied in selection. That added savings could help her accomplish other tasks and goals. Her initial judgement about "status symbol" was spot on. People living to impress others makes me laugh all the time.

 

You know what makes me laugh? Generally, that is. (I mean, you always do, but that's not what I'm talking about.) People deliberately not buying the best tools for a job just to impress others with how "above it" they are.

I don't agree with your prediction of a larger touch screen. But, what is inevitably in the cards is increased power and functionality of the iPhone, but especially the iPad devices. Apple is moving, and has to move, more functionality to these devices because of the need for these devices to not be tethered to a PC/MBP. The basic app that Apple provides are short on functionality. I'm thinking Calendar and Email especially.

 

The iOS calendar app is not capable of creating custom repeatable groups, such as "every third Sunday of the month"; it is also limited to entering two alerts for a calendar event. Both functions are available under OSX devices, so I often need to edit calendar events on my MBP to create these more complex repeating events and alerts.

 

Email under iOS is severely limited because it does not support rules. I used rules extensively in the Email on my MBP; in fact, I always need to have my MBP running with Email active so it can execute the rules so things are set appropriately when I read the emails on my iOS devices (of course this requires that my email accounts support the IMAP protocol). 

 

These are just specifics, but I see the need for tablets attain reasonably full computer functionality in a touch-screen form factor, with iOS adding more OSX functionality, and the apps following along. 

SHARP was touting it's IGZO screens at CES.

 

APPLE has invested money in what company?

 

SHARP.

 

The next screen for the iPad? Any guesses?

 

Yeah, me too.

 

Huge bump in battery life would be welcomed.

Dude... oh never mind...

 

Oh well.  Different experiences and different points of view I guess.  YMMV. 

 

IMO buying a keyboard case for a mini is tres stupide.  

 

The original iPad keyboard case is already so small due to the length of the iPad that you end up with something like a nasty little netbook once you've put it all together.  The iPad mini is even smaller making any kind of touch typing on those keyboard cases truly impossible.  If a person truly values that keyboard over the built in soft keyboard, then they are just valuing plastic keys over virtual ones.  I have the same lack of intellectual respect for those folks as I do for those blackberry users that think their little plastic keyboards are king.  

 

Neither is any better, bigger, or easier to use than the other.  These people are just expressing a bias for physical keys over virtual keys.  A bias based on their position in the history of computing IMO (thus my "seniors" and "transitional users" language).  I don't see as there is any real evidence that physical keys are better than virtual ones, it's just a preference, and one that on the balance of evidence, I think will fade.  Physical keyboards on iOS devices will only survive if they have some concrete advantage over virtual ones and I haven't seen anyone elucidate those advantages yet.  

 

IMO if you really want to do extremely fast touch typing, then you should use a 'proper' keyboard on a proper laptop or desktop.  Apple's wireless keyboard is an excellent choice there and the perfect size.  If on the other hand you want a truly mobile device, then you should give up on a tiny bit of speed and switch to a typing style more suited for the device.  Add to this the fact that most folks (even die-hard techies and many "writers") don't actually touch type at all and type less than 40 wpm and the "need" for that proper keyboard really disappears altogether.  

 

I do 70-80 wpm touch typing on a "proper" keyboard, but I also do about 30-40 wpm "thumb typing" on an iOS device in portrait orientation.  What iOS has taught me is that this is more than sufficient for almost every use case and I can leave the clumsy keyboard at home.  When you consider that most users are even less talented with a keyboard and don't do much more than hunt and peck and rarely have to type more than a short email or text ... 

 

Anyway, shutting up now.  I realise that no one agrees with me and that somehow without intending to, I've wound some folks up again.  

 

My apologies if I offended your sensibilities. 

<quietly walks away from computer>

If things really don't pick up for Apple this year, I'm afraid that in a few more there won't be an Apple. Google and Samsung more than any others have really screwed it over, in that their products are nearly as good (in some cases better) just as 'cool', more affordable and far more widely used nowadays. Apple is starting to feel like a dinosaur by comparison, and I really don't want to be saying that, or that it was just Steve's baby and RIP Apple! I've been a fan of the company since 1983 when I first started to learn Basic on an Apple II - hence my user name. 30 years trumpeting the cause! Ha ha.
Edited by 1983 - 1/18/13 at 10:23am

What makes iPad mini is price,lightness and design. Apple need to make the iPad more like the mini.

How is it racing to the bottom if they aren't trying to UNDERCUT the competition?

As for reducing total profits, I don't see it. There will be canibalization, which Tim Cook says he's not afraid of, which I take to mean volume increases will offset. But moreover, everybody thinks this is about hardware. It's not. Apple is not competing against Google, Amazon and Microsoft over hardware. It's about content -- iTunes, iBooks and the App Store. Lets say they lose profit on overall hardware but gain a larger share of customers than they otherwise would have had, and those customers buy a larger share of books, music, games and apps than they otherwise would have sold. I trust Apple to make the correct calculations to ensure they keep their overall profit margins in check.

Are these the same two sources that talked to the Wall Street Journal last week?

 

I don't see Apple engaging in a race to the bottom. Their pricing of the iPad Mini and its apparent success during the holiday quarter, in my mind, says that Apple is continuing their same strategy of providing quality for a reasonable price. Just not the cheapest price on the planet.