Apple Said To Plan Smaller iPad To Vie With Google Nexus

Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to debut a smaller, cheaper iPad by year-end, two people with knowledge of the plans said, to help maintain dominance of the tablet market as Google Inc. (GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) prepare competing handheld devices.

Read the whole story: Bloomberg

Comments

[David LS]

01:52 PM on 07/06/2012

Apple is like the Koch brothers on silicon, taking care of business for only their benefit.
A marketing firm in the guise of a tech firm.

[theoldruler]

01:00 AM on 07/06/2012

Mini-iPad. I don't think so. Not Apple's style.

[farleft1917]

12:45 PM on 07/05/2012

This will be the first time, if true, that Apple has produced a Me-Too hardware product. It will be a chilling sign that they have peaked, if they respond to a Google tablet by touting their own version that Jobs once jeeringly derided.

[JohnTheMac]

09:43 PM on 07/05/2012

Really? First time?
Didn't they drop Apple Desktop Bus and go to USB?
Didn't they change from PowerPC to Intel processors?
Didn't they change the iPod from Firewire to USB?
Didn't they change iTunes to work on Windows as well as Mac?
I guess those were chilling signs that they peaked all those times too.

[farleft1917]

12:47 AM on 07/07/2012

JohnTheMac: really? How old are you?

[Seral]

11:13 AM on 07/05/2012

Apple is following the trend of other companies in shrinking the size of their tablets? Too bad, others have already done that. What happened to the creativity? Or do they want to bring the smaller sized one so they can stop creativity theft and continue to sue other companies claiming others are copying their design? Surely, the jokes won't be limited with that decision...

[jsarets]

10:19 AM on 07/05/2012

At this point, Apple's trump card is that they have a better grip on the U.S. cell carriers. Their mobile platform is burdened by restrictions on how apps can exchange data and functionality, but they can charge the carriers a steep premium on their devices and enforce low subsidized pricing. And they can force the carriers to all accept the same device without any pointless differentiation.

If Apple is going to launch a small tablet at the $199 price point, it's going to be sold through the carriers with LTE modems and price subsidies. The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire don't have cell modems, so Apple will want to use its stronger negotiating position with the carriers to offer a small tablet with LTE at the same price point -- excluding the cost of the data plan of course.

[NHBill]

07:23 PM on 07/05/2012

Why isn't Apple doing that with the iPad?

[jsarets]

07:56 PM on 07/05/2012

Because they don't have to. They have no meaningful competition, yet, in the 10" tablet market, so their customers will pay full price. But 7" is a different story.

[nonChristian]

09:54 AM on 07/05/2012

My boss had me working on an App for ipad for some time, a job he was supposed to do but forwarded to me. He used to look at me with such compassion as I coded in that horrid platform. Thank god I am back to Android. You lay people have no idea what control freak, rigid and constrained that environment is. For god sakes I am not even allowed to install the app I coded on my own phone. What BS.

Next time he forces me to go Apple I will quit, he probably knows that too :)

[J0E1]

09:46 AM on 07/05/2012

So basically copying everyone else AGAIN.  Sue, sue, copy, sue, sue, sue... copy.  That's all Apple is doing nowadays.

[Matt Landner]

09:38 AM on 07/05/2012

I lost count of how many times this rumor came out.
If such rumors were true, those who gave it out clearly violated NDA.

[DRaymond]

04:51 AM on 07/05/2012

For an article from Bloomberg I would expect the writer to look at the numbers they are using more carefully.  They point out that Apple's profit margins are 37 percent,  But that is on devices that cost $499 and up.  Simple common sense says that if you make 37 percent on a product at $499 you are going to lose money selling them at $199.  And his saying that Apple can make money because they are using a smaller screen is just plain silly.  According to IHS iSuppli the cost of the iPad 3 screen is $127 and the complete manufacturing cost of the device is $350.  Even if they somehow found a seven inch touch screen that was FREE it still would not reduce the cost below $199.

Now this does not necessarily mean that Apple won't announce something with a $199 price tag and a 7 inch screen.  But it will be an iPhone, not an iPad.  In other words it will carry a price of $649 unlocked but will be available for $199 with a two-year data plan contract from the phone company -- just like the iPhone.

[NHBill]

07:28 PM on 07/05/2012

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

[kinogod]

12:02 AM on 07/05/2012

Covering all bases with a Fantastic Eco system next to none. Long on AAPL.

[ResearchtheFacts]

11:35 PM on 07/04/2012

A 7inch ipad wouldn't that be copying Samsung, Blackberry, Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7?  Perhaps these companies should file injunctions against Apple now for basic shape copying and size.

[Onutz]

02:35 AM on 07/05/2012

I wish they would file injunctions against a smaller device. I hate the idea of an undersized iPad. The current size is perfect for the tutorial videos that I frequently watch. A smaller screen wouldn't work for me.

[JohnTheMac]

09:49 PM on 07/05/2012

Well, implicit in your question is the fact that Samsung, Blackberry, Kindle, and Google copied each other in making a 7" tab. (One of them did it first, the others copied).
This doesn't seem to bother you, but somehow, Apple doing it would.

[ResearchtheFacts]

10:43 PM on 07/05/2012

That would be easy...Samsung did it first with their first gen galaxy tab.

[Axekick]

01:29 AM on 07/08/2012

Samsung, Blackberry, Amazon and Google don't frantically file frivolous lawsuits against one another claiming bogus patent infringements. That is why it bothers me.

[Max Load]

11:25 PM on 07/04/2012

Couple that screen size with 3 or 4G network access and I'd consider buying in, as using remote administration apps on my phone is a pain, and the full size iPad's too expensive for more tastes.

[jflorish]

11:14 PM on 07/04/2012

Google in banking on cheap knock offs ... makes sense to release an ipad mini for those that want a cheaper alternative.

[brflux]

09:53 PM on 07/04/2012

The iphone is the ipad mini.

[Furfles]

01:05 AM on 07/05/2012

I agree. This mid-size thing is neither super portable (as the smart phone should be) nor as super usable as the larger tablet is. I see no need for it, in spite of Google's bet.

[Ricochet67]

09:51 PM on 07/04/2012

I already have an iPad mini - it's called an iPod Touch. I use it more than I use my actual iPad. I have a NookColor & a Kindle, that are smaller than the iPad, bigger than the iPod and the NookColor has an Android platform for apps, just like my phone. How much more of these stupid things do we need? If I hadn't gotten 3 of them as gifts, I would only have my phone and my iPod and would be perfectly happy with just those two gadgets.