I am thinking Gruber (Daring Fireball) is right, that what is coming soon is just a refresh to the current iPad in order to stave off the few advantages competitors may have (cameras, etc.). Think of it as iPad 1.5. The real iPad 2 will come in the fall in time for back-to-school or later for the holiday season. It just makes sense that new iPad models should come once a year in the fall when most buying occurs, not in the spring.
It would be nice not to wait another year just for a retina display but I think it's unlikely. Considering the lack of competition in this market I'd expect them to launch updates on pretty much a yearly cycle.
To stabilise the share price Apple also have a need to even out their sales figures throughout the year. Currently iPods occupy the (northern hemisphere) autumn slot. We have iPhones roughly 3 months before that and the iPad roughly three months before that. I think Steve takes the attitude that apple products are so compelling that you walk to the store "to buy an iPad" rather then walking to the store with a fistful of disposable cash and "see what's available". In that sense it probably doesn't even matter when they launch the thing, though it helps not to have it launch against one of their own products.
Comments
I am thinking Gruber (Daring Fireball) is right, that what is coming soon is just a refresh to the current iPad in order to stave off the few advantages competitors may have (cameras, etc.). Think of it as iPad 1.5. The real iPad 2 will come in the fall in time for back-to-school or later for the holiday season. It just makes sense that new iPad models should come once a year in the fall when most buying occurs, not in the spring.
It would be nice not to wait another year just for a retina display but I think it's unlikely. Considering the lack of competition in this market I'd expect them to launch updates on pretty much a yearly cycle.
To stabilise the share price Apple also have a need to even out their sales figures throughout the year. Currently iPods occupy the (northern hemisphere) autumn slot. We have iPhones roughly 3 months before that and the iPad roughly three months before that. I think Steve takes the attitude that apple products are so compelling that you walk to the store "to buy an iPad" rather then walking to the store with a fistful of disposable cash and "see what's available". In that sense it probably doesn't even matter when they launch the thing, though it helps not to have it launch against one of their own products.