Why would Apple want to compete with the money losing hardware model of Amazon Kindle Fire?
Exactly - they are doomed to failure as Amazon gives away devices at cost (or worst). Clearly Apple wants to lose money faster than Amazon will in this area. Thus the need for a smaller screen - more development and start up costs to incur... Geez.. this sounds like a Federal Government ploy to prepare for a bailout request in 2013.
Why would Apple spend time developing an additional all new device with a form factor that they're on record of saying isn't ideal for the customer when all they would need to do to introduce a cheaper iPad is wait until they release the iPad 3 at the current prices, but with whatever new features it has, and then drop the price of the iPad 2 to $300-$400 (or less if they can get the build cost down), only sell a 8 GB or 16 GB version, just like they've done with the iPhone the last few iterations, and viola...cheaper entry-level iPad for them with little-to-no additional research and development.
Not sure what the current cost for apple is to make an iPad 2, but wasn't it around $300 per device? That should only get cheaper for them as they produce more and the tech gets older and cheaper. They get it under $300, I could see them easily keeping the iPad 2, one of the most popular devices them (or anyone) has ever made, and selling it for $300. They still make money on the device and gets people into the Apple/iTunes ecosystem and they make money there. Even at $400 would make a good dent.
History says that Apple has gone back on what it has panned in the past. I would rather have a 7 inch version of the ipad personally.
There is no way Apple could release an 7-8" mini iPad for half the price and not have it destroy iPad sales... I love my iPad 2, but if I could have purchased an iPad mini for $250, I would have. So would have many, many other people....
If I were to guess, these LCD screens will find themselves attached to iMacs in some capacity in the near future...
Those who underestimate Steve Jobs took those comments literally, believing that Apple will somehow consider the iPad 2 the end of innovative form factors.
But those of us who've been using Apple products for more than a few years understand that Steve is often simply distracting the competition from his own next move. We recall earlier comments from Steve about Apple not getting into the music business, that it won't get into the phone business, or even tablets.
The iPad 2 isn't the end of the line. The line will grow, and eventually be completely replaced by something entirely new.
It's probable that Apple had had 5", 7", 15", 17" iPads sitting in a lab in Cupertino for years. It's probable those labs have 3.7"/4"/4.5" iPhones, an iPhone with an LTE chip, an iPhone with a WiMAX chip, an iPad running OS X, a MacPro with a Blu-ray drive, an A5 iPod touch with 3G cellular data and more combinations of parts and features.
I give it a week before one of these turns up on eBay
On a serious note, I think this one will pile up with the rest of the iPad rumors, it's probably a manufacturer looking to run their 7" setup, and decided that a rumor might encourage the market.
The iPad rumour pile. It will keep growing but mostly with copies.
Quote:
Tuesday's report is the second in less than a week that has suggested Apple is exploring a new, cheaper iPad for release in the coming months. Last Wednesday, analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said he has heard that Apple will release a less expensive -- but not necessarily smaller -- iPad in the first few months of 2012.
This is the best rumour - what I would like to have explained is what will Apple do to reduce the cost significantly, yet retain enough features / qualities to make it a worthy Apple product?
Perhaps this is for an entirely new product altogether that functions like the iPad.
That size form factor could be perfect for something like a car interface. Imagine now that iCloud is out... You could have seamless hands-free integration with your iPhone, wirelessly keep your contacts and music up to date, and navigate you all using SIRI! Just imagine what sort of car apps might be possible.
Now wouldn't that be a kick in the teeth to Android?
When the first iPad was announced Steve Jobs gave his view of his product decision making. In criticizing competitors' increasingly small laptops, he said that they were not better than anything, they were just smaller, and did everything else worse.
So, assuming that Steve Jobs philosophy is Apples philosophy, the question to ask regarding a 7" iPad is is the 7" iPad going to be better than anything else. It would have to be better than both the iPhone and iPad, since it will fit between the two in size, and it would have to be better than competitor devices.
Rumors of a "mini" iPad continue to persist, with a new report out of Taiwan claiming that Apple has purchased 7.85-inch displays for a smaller version of its touchscreen tablet.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Unless they ship it with sandpaper so buyers can pare their fingers down to pointy little bloody nubs, this thing is gonna be
Could this be a remote for the Apple TV? Just a thought...
. . . for example, and it could be a coat-pocket Pad, a backseat kidPad, a lunchboxPad, a wait-in-line Pad, a third-world/proletariat/nomad/bedouin Pad, and so on.
It really is a nice form factor, except for the 16:9 aspect which the early loser tablets are stuck on so far. (I hate 16:9, but if it has to be, and Apple does it, I suppose it'd be tolerable -- with an aluminum back, say.) If it had a higher pixel density than the current Pad, with the same build quality, it would be overpoweringly desirable for many, many people.
I completely understand the skepticism here. Steve said it wasn't right. And prototypes are shopped around. But I wouldn't be surprised if they changed their mind from that early position and now rationalized that it's okay to establish a standard and then do a mini, but not okay to make your first effort a mini and then work upward from there. And then just maybe Amazon is really on to something we have to pay attention to . . . .
Edit: clintonf had another, better idea a few posts above.
This is the best rumour - what I would like to have explained is what will Apple do to reduce the cost significantly, yet retain enough features / qualities to make it a worthy Apple product?
I'll give this a shot. First, Apple has margins that any other manufacturer would kill for. If they felt that a credible competitor might actually gain a foot hold they could cut back on that margin a lot and still make a decent profit. Second, Apple has incredible economies of scale. Since they are buying in such large numbers, the parts that go into an Apple product cost less that do the parts that do into a competitor's product, even if they are the very same parts.
People have bought iPads because every other tablet was a piece of crap in comparison. And they have bought 9" iPads because that's all that existed. We don't know if a fair number of those people would have bought a 7" if it was available.
I believe that it is possible that Apple will come out with a 7" iPad. I wouldn't want to put any money on it, but I think it could happen. And I think they could make it as cheap as Amazon's tablet with more features and capability (but less than the current iPad).
Personally, I have no interest in 7". I am with the crowd what would like a slightly larger iPad, but I could see people who can't justify $500 part with $200 for a less capable, smaller version of the iPad. But, I agree that we will not know for sure until we see it at a press conference.
Comments
Exactly - they are doomed to failure as Amazon gives away devices at cost (or worst). Clearly Apple wants to lose money faster than Amazon will in this area. Thus the need for a smaller screen - more development and start up costs to incur... Geez.. this sounds like a Federal Government ploy to prepare for a bailout request in 2013.
Could this be a remote for the Apple TV? Just a thought...
A remote larger than the actual Apple TV? Yeah, no.
Why would Apple spend time developing an additional all new device with a form factor that they're on record of saying isn't ideal for the customer when all they would need to do to introduce a cheaper iPad is wait until they release the iPad 3 at the current prices, but with whatever new features it has, and then drop the price of the iPad 2 to $300-$400 (or less if they can get the build cost down), only sell a 8 GB or 16 GB version, just like they've done with the iPhone the last few iterations, and viola...cheaper entry-level iPad for them with little-to-no additional research and development.
Not sure what the current cost for apple is to make an iPad 2, but wasn't it around $300 per device? That should only get cheaper for them as they produce more and the tech gets older and cheaper. They get it under $300, I could see them easily keeping the iPad 2, one of the most popular devices them (or anyone) has ever made, and selling it for $300. They still make money on the device and gets people into the Apple/iTunes ecosystem and they make money there. Even at $400 would make a good dent.
History says that Apple has gone back on what it has panned in the past. I would rather have a 7 inch version of the ipad personally.
7.85 inches isn't 7 inches -- it's 7.85 inches.
Right?
Right .....?
/nervous, uncomfortable laughter
If I were to guess, these LCD screens will find themselves attached to iMacs in some capacity in the near future...
Would not dilute the iPad but upgrade the touch. could use same pixel count like the iphone retina display,
Those who underestimate Steve Jobs took those comments literally, believing that Apple will somehow consider the iPad 2 the end of innovative form factors.
But those of us who've been using Apple products for more than a few years understand that Steve is often simply distracting the competition from his own next move. We recall earlier comments from Steve about Apple not getting into the music business, that it won't get into the phone business, or even tablets.
The iPad 2 isn't the end of the line. The line will grow, and eventually be completely replaced by something entirely new.
Apple is not sitting still.
Exactly.
...My guess is there's a fabulous Retina Display iPad in a Cupertino lab right now.
If this, I have very little doubt. Now if they'd only release the new Mac Pros, I'd be a happy camper.
It's probable that Apple had had 5", 7", 15", 17" iPads sitting in a lab in Cupertino for years. It's probable those labs have 3.7"/4"/4.5" iPhones, an iPhone with an LTE chip, an iPhone with a WiMAX chip, an iPad running OS X, a MacPro with a Blu-ray drive, an A5 iPod touch with 3G cellular data and more combinations of parts and features.
I give it a week before one of these turns up on eBay
Could this be a remote for the Apple TV? Just a thought...
iphone. ipad. both already decent remotes. i doubt there are many appletv owners that don't have one or the other or both
They didn't create the long analyst rumored iPhone-Mini did they?
The iPad1 or iPad2 (or both) will become the price sensitive option when the iPad3 drops.
Just like the 3GS and 4 are now that the 4S has dropped.
They get pricing diversity without the additional cost of constant retooling.
I think Steve meant it when he said 7" was too small.
His comments were based on a human size factor (fingers), not on a behavior like when he diverted with 'nobody reads anymore' before Apple did iBooks.
The iPad Mini = Your iPhone / iPod Touch
Don't mis-underestimate the Jobs.
On a serious note, I think this one will pile up with the rest of the iPad rumors, it's probably a manufacturer looking to run their 7" setup, and decided that a rumor might encourage the market.
The iPad rumour pile. It will keep growing but mostly with copies.
Tuesday's report is the second in less than a week that has suggested Apple is exploring a new, cheaper iPad for release in the coming months. Last Wednesday, analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said he has heard that Apple will release a less expensive -- but not necessarily smaller -- iPad in the first few months of 2012.
This is the best rumour - what I would like to have explained is what will Apple do to reduce the cost significantly, yet retain enough features / qualities to make it a worthy Apple product?
That size form factor could be perfect for something like a car interface. Imagine now that iCloud is out... You could have seamless hands-free integration with your iPhone, wirelessly keep your contacts and music up to date, and navigate you all using SIRI! Just imagine what sort of car apps might be possible.
Now wouldn't that be a kick in the teeth to Android?
So, assuming that Steve Jobs philosophy is Apples philosophy, the question to ask regarding a 7" iPad is is the 7" iPad going to be better than anything else. It would have to be better than both the iPhone and iPad, since it will fit between the two in size, and it would have to be better than competitor devices.
Rumors of a "mini" iPad continue to persist, with a new report out of Taiwan claiming that Apple has purchased 7.85-inch displays for a smaller version of its touchscreen tablet.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Unless they ship it with sandpaper so buyers can pare their fingers down to pointy little bloody nubs, this thing is gonna be
DOA
Steve is often simply distracting the competition from his own next move.
You might peg the man as a manipulative liar, but I doubt that most people do.
Could this be a remote for the Apple TV? Just a thought...
. . . for example, and it could be a coat-pocket Pad, a backseat kidPad, a lunchboxPad, a wait-in-line Pad, a third-world/proletariat/nomad/bedouin Pad, and so on.
It really is a nice form factor, except for the 16:9 aspect which the early loser tablets are stuck on so far. (I hate 16:9, but if it has to be, and Apple does it, I suppose it'd be tolerable -- with an aluminum back, say.) If it had a higher pixel density than the current Pad, with the same build quality, it would be overpoweringly desirable for many, many people.
I completely understand the skepticism here. Steve said it wasn't right. And prototypes are shopped around. But I wouldn't be surprised if they changed their mind from that early position and now rationalized that it's okay to establish a standard and then do a mini, but not okay to make your first effort a mini and then work upward from there. And then just maybe Amazon is really on to something we have to pay attention to . . . .
Edit: clintonf had another, better idea a few posts above.
This is the best rumour - what I would like to have explained is what will Apple do to reduce the cost significantly, yet retain enough features / qualities to make it a worthy Apple product?
I'll give this a shot. First, Apple has margins that any other manufacturer would kill for. If they felt that a credible competitor might actually gain a foot hold they could cut back on that margin a lot and still make a decent profit. Second, Apple has incredible economies of scale. Since they are buying in such large numbers, the parts that go into an Apple product cost less that do the parts that do into a competitor's product, even if they are the very same parts.
People have bought iPads because every other tablet was a piece of crap in comparison. And they have bought 9" iPads because that's all that existed. We don't know if a fair number of those people would have bought a 7" if it was available.
I believe that it is possible that Apple will come out with a 7" iPad. I wouldn't want to put any money on it, but I think it could happen. And I think they could make it as cheap as Amazon's tablet with more features and capability (but less than the current iPad).
Personally, I have no interest in 7". I am with the crowd what would like a slightly larger iPad, but I could see people who can't justify $500 part with $200 for a less capable, smaller version of the iPad. But, I agree that we will not know for sure until we see it at a press conference.